


One for the Money, Two for the Show

by Smalls2233



Series: Off to the Races [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Beach Sex, Deadlock Gang, Dirty Talk, Dom/sub, Foot Jobs, Hand Jobs, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Shotgunning, Sugar Daddy, Talon Jesse McCree, Talon Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-04-24 12:07:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14355129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smalls2233/pseuds/Smalls2233
Summary: “So you haven’t told me where we’re going yet,” Jesse drummed his fingers on his thighs as he stared out the window of Gabriel’s personal car. An hour beforehand he had been told to get ready to go on a trip for his twenty first birthday. No details were given and all attempts from Jesse to dig them out of Gabriel had failed.---Jesse and Gabriel take a vacation for Jesse's 21st.





	1. Chapter 1

“So you haven’t told me where we’re going yet,” Jesse drummed his fingers on his thighs as he stared out the window of Gabriel’s personal car. An hour beforehand he had been told to get ready to go on a trip for his twenty first birthday. No details were given and all attempts from Jesse to dig them out of Gabriel had failed.

Gabriel looked at him out of the corner of his eye, “We’re getting on a plane.”

“Helpful, Gabriel,” Jesse said dryly.

Gabriel hummed and turned the radio down until it was only a whisper of noise. “It’s warm and sandy,” he said.

“Wow, are you takin’ me back home to the gorge to get some work done?” Jesse raised an eyebrow. “Romantic birthday vacation right there, babe.”

Gabriel snorted, “I’m taking you to Hawaii, you moron. I’ve got a place there, figured we could spend your birthday week holed up at the beach.”

Jesse’s fingers paused, he hadn’t ever been to Hawaii before, always wanted to, though. “Any business for our pals there? Or is this just a vacation?”

Gabriel slowed the car and flicked on his turn signal, “Just a vacation for now. Who knows, maybe you’ll get asked to shoot some place up. Make a real party out of it all.”

The last several Blackwatch missions he had been on had all been covers for Talon operations. He and Lane had been paired up more often than not, Lane provided the gear and backup while Jesse pulled the trigger on key targets. Nothing nearly as public as his first job with Gabriel and he hadn’t worked with him for Talon since that night at the opera.

“Would you be there with me or would you just be in my ear?” Jesse leaned his seat back and tipped his hat over his eyes. “Because darlin’ it can get real hard to focus with you sweet talking in my ear.”

“Oh?” Jesse could hear Gabriel’s grin in his voice. “Maybe we should work on that then. Get you nice and accustomed to hearing my voice in your ear.”

The idea sounded tempting, but Jesse knew Gabriel and knew how goddamned fucking seriously he took training. “I’ll pass on that, Gabe. I’d like to be able to listen to you speak without the pavlovian fear of running three miles.”

Gabriel laughed loudly, “It’d be five miles each time you got a boner, actually, and a hundred pushups each time your breath hitched.”

Jesse groaned and blindly punched Gabriel in the shoulder, “We’re not doing that, Gabe. That’s a shit idea and I’ll deal with my boners like an adult.”

“Actually, it sounds like a good idea and—“

“I’m going to sleep now, Gabe. Wake me up when you don’t have shit ideas,” Jesse grumbled, cutting Gabriel off.

Gabriel snorted, “I’ll wake you up when we get to the airport, Jesse.”

——

Hot, humid air washed over Jesse as soon as he stepped off Gabriel’s private plane — because of course Gabriel wouldn’t fly on a public airplane, that was just stupid of Jesse to have even considered that. “God, I’ve missed this so much,” Jesse groaned, closing his eyes and enjoying not feeling like his balls were gonna freeze off for the first time in months. He could have done without the humidity, but hot was hot.

“Fuck, if I had realized it was this easy to impress you, I’d have given up on the dinner reservations for tonight and just let you sit outside in the heat,” Gabriel laughed, wrapping an arm around Jesse’s waist.

“You give up those reservations and you’re sleeping on the couch,” Jesse grumbled and lightly bumped Gabriel’s shoulder with his own.

“Nah, it’s my beach house, I’m gonna sleep on the bed that I bought,” Gabriel squeezed Jesse’s waist as the two men walked down the stairs of the jet to Gabriel’s waiting car. “Maybe my training idea had some merit, I’ll get you a tarp and a knife and until your birthday you can try your hand at wilderness survival.”

Jesse flashed Gabriel a look, “We’re going to your beach house in Hawaii, not the Amazon. There’s probably a fuckin’ McDonalds a block away.”

Gabriel huffed out a laugh, “Darling, you haven’t seen this place yet, there’s nothing around for miles.”

“Gabe I’d run those miles to civilization and go rent a hotel room with your credit card or some shit,” Jesse cocked a brow and slid into the passenger seat of the convertible. It was modeled after a vintage car and fuck, he wanted one. He didn’t know where Gabriel kept all of his cars, but each time he saw a new one he wondered just who he’d have to kill to be given the chance to drive them.

“Mm, and then I’d report you to the cops and let you go to supermax for your past and present crimes within Deadlock,” Gabriel hummed and turned on the car. The low purr of the engine was music to Jesse’s ears. God, the car must have cost a fortune. “Or I’d let you run for a little bit, get a five minute head start— and then I’d start tracking you.”

 _Now,_ Gabriel was starting to interest Jesse, “Oh? I was trained by you personally, Gabe, I know how to disguise my tracks.”

“And I was modified by the United States government to be the ultimate soldier, death incarnate, I’d be able to track you. But when I found you…” Gabriel trailed off and looked at Jesse from the corner of his eye, edge of his mouth twitching in a half grin. “I wouldn’t grab you, not immediately, oh no, I’d stalk you for a bit, let you think you escaped me. Then I’d pounce.”

Jesse felt himself start to grow hard in his pants, he couldn’t help it, not with the way Gabriel’s voice had begun to turn into a low, husky purr. “What if I decided to fight you? You gave me a knife, I know how to kill a man three hundred fuckin’ ways with a knife.”

“I was hoping you’d ask that,” Gabriel purred. “You haven’t seen everything I can do, Jesse. Be a good boy for me tonight and I might show you. But what would I do if you tried to fight… well, I’d probably fight back. You’d have a knife but I’d have a gun, maybe not my shotguns, but I’d have a pistol at the very least. I’d shoot you, not anywhere lethal, but somewhere that it’d _really_ fuckin’ hurt. Then I’d drag your sorry ass back to the house and watch as I forced you to cut out the bullet and stitch yourself up, evaluate if you’ve been keeping up with your training on that.”

Listening to how Gabriel was gonna shoot him probably shouldn’t have been a turn on, was probably a sign that there was something very wrong with him. But hey, Jesse already knew that, so he adjusted himself and asked, “So fighting’s not gonna work, how about continuing to run away? I’ve got the stamina and if I know you’re on me I don’t have to worry about hiding my tracks no more.”

Gabriel’s responding laugh was more a puff of air out of his nose than anything, “Then the hunt would really be on. Most people would get sloppy and afraid, but I’ve trained you better than that. You’d be quick and you’d be smart, maybe you wouldn’t be hiding your tracks but you’d lose me for a bit—” he paused and met Jesse’s eyes. “You want me to jerk you off while I finish this up?”

“Jesus, of course I do,” Jesse was unzipping his pants before he even finished his sentence. If he was with anybody else, he’d be concerned about their ability to drive while jerking him off, but this was Gabriel.

Gabriel’s warm, gun calloused hand wrapped around his half hard cock and Gabriel continued on, “What was I saying? You’d run... wouldn’t be sloppy… you’re never sloppy… right, you’d lose me for a bit, because you know me, know how I think, we’ve worked together for long enough that you’d know how to fool me. But you’re so smart that sometimes you forget obvious details, you’ve thought about everything, mapped out exactly how I’d go about finding you, you don’t even think about how I’d go about thinking how you would think.” Gabriel chuckled, a deep throaty sound as he ran his thumb along the leaking tip of Jesse’s cock. “So I’d pause, collect myself, think to myself ‘what would Jesse McCree do?’ and with that, I’d double back, start heading back to the house, because you’d do that, wouldn’t you?”

Jesse laughed a breathless laugh, “Babe, I’d be hotwiring one of your beautiful cars and getting the hell out of Dodge.”

“Exactly, so I’d race back to the house to see you with a car probably already half hotwired and I’d grab you by the neck and drag you upstairs to the bedroom.”

“And what would you do then?” Jesse asked, biting his finger to hold in a moan. The top of the convertible was open and if anybody driving by them cared enough to look, they’d see Gabriel’s hand wrapped around Jesse’s thick cock, cockhead shiny with precum.

“How about you tell me, you’re a smart boy,” Gabriel said, eyebrows raised.

“I know I’d be pretending to resist, elbowing you, snarling, callin’ you a right demon, but I wouldn’t mean any of it, I’d let you carry me wherever you wanted with only token resistance. Let you — _mm_ — rough me up a little, toss me around, I know you’d enjoy that,” Jesse closed his eyes as he imagined the situation. Gabriel was jerking Jesse off languidly, like there was no real need to hurry up and get him off.

“When you finally got me to the bedroom, you’d ignore the bed completely, tell me that I wasn’t worth it, not when I tried to run away from you,” Jesse continued, breathing heavily as he imagined Gabriel treating him like he was worthless. “You’d fuck me, barely enough prep, barely enough lube, I’d be feelin’ it for days. I’d still be pretending to fight back, biting, kicking, the whole shebang, let it get real violent so that you’d backhand me, get me right in the jaw. You’d choke me and I’d cum right at the verge of passing out.”

“What would I do then?” Gabriel purred softly, thumbing the head of Jesse’s cock, smearing it with precum. “Would I let go?”

“Fuck, you wouldn’t let go, not when I needed to be taught a lesson, and before I was even done cumming I’d pass out, then you’d use me. You — _ah, god,_ Gabe, do that again — you gotta cum like three times before you’re satisfied, so you’d just use my hole until I came to. You’d fuck me again for good measure and then you’d start telling me where I went wrong, what I should have done to escape from you. Whether I wanted a lesson or not, you’d make sure I learned one. Then you’d tell me what I did right, how I fooled you, how I’d have lost anyone else.”

“You think I’d be impressed?” Gabriel asked, he did something wicked with his hand that drew a groan out of Jesse.

“I know you’d be impressed,” Jesse said after he collected himself. “You wouldn’t be able to help yourself.”

Gabriel chuckled, “You’re right, I wouldn’t, so I’d give you a kiss for each thing you did to make me proud. Then I’d fuck you on the bed, nice and gentle, have you gasping my name as you came. You’re my boy and I always treat you right, don’t I?”

“You sure treat me in some way,” Jesse said, stomach tightening as he felt an orgasm coming. “Can’t quite say if— oh, _fuck_ , fuck, god, Gabe,” Jesse bit his fist hard enough to bruise to try and stifle the moan that was bubbling in his chest as he came.

A car passed them and Jesse couldn’t hold back his moan any longer at the thought of how fucking obvious it was that he was being jerked off in a fucking convertible. There was no disguising how flushed his face was, where Gabriel’s hand was. “Gabe, fuck, oh god, _oh, fuck,_ ” Jesse’s moan was painfully loud and his hips jerked minutely as Gabriel stroked him through his orgasm.

“There’s my good boy,” Gabriel murmured approvingly as Jesse came down. “Just ride it out, sweetheart.”

“Why the hell haven’t we done this before?” Jesse panted, chest heaving and ears ringing.

“Didn’t realize it’d turn you on so much,” Gabriel shrugged before wiping his cum covered palm off on Jesse’s pants. Jesse barely stopped himself from smacking Gabriel’s shoulder as he watched him.

“I didn’t either, honestly, not until that car passed us. All I could think of was how obvious it was that I was cumming and then everything felt like so much more,” Jesse admitted, running a hand through wind blown, sweaty hair. “Do you have tissues or anything in here?”

“Glove compartment, I have a pack of tissues. After you clean up, don’t put any of your nasty cum tissues on my leather seats.”

“You were the one who jerked me off,” Jesse grumbled as he dug through the glove compartment for the pack of tissues.

“And _you_ were the one who got a boner when I told him I’d nonlethally shoot him,” Gabriel chuckled and flipped on his turn signal as they approached a turn. “You need a psych eval, McCree.”

“Gabe I watched you force a doctor to sign me off as okay after I failed the eval.”

“Guess I did,” Gabriel’s lips twitched in a half grin and Jesse wiped down the front of his shirt and pants with tissues. He had no place to toss the tissues so he grimaced and shoved them in his pockets with the intent to throw them away as soon as they got to Gabriel’s beach house.

“Who forced the doctor to sign off on your psych eval?” Jesse asked, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of hot air blowing past him as Gabriel made the turn onto a side road. “Because there ain’t no way you passed.”

“The United States government,” Gabriel said and Jesse felt a hand run through his hair. He kept his eyes closed as he nuzzled into it and Gabriel scratched at his scalp. “At the end of SEP, they had a doc evaluate us and within five minutes she said I wasn’t fit, the program director put a gun to her head and forced her to sign off.”

“And yet you passed beforehand?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, I ever tell you about what happened?”

“Nope.”

“Right,” Gabriel said and paused for a moment. Just when Jesse was about to open his mouth to ask him to go on, Gabriel continued, voice low and contemplative. “I was the only of my batch that lived, everyone else died. Jackie just got Captain America because when it was his turn, that was the only shit that the scientists knew wouldn’t kill all but one or two subjects.” Gabriel broke off with a sigh, hand stilling in Jesse’s hair. “I think Jack knows I’m Reaper, there’s honestly no way he doesn’t, I’m the only person in the world with these powers. The scientists wanted to see what would happen if they mixed nanites in with human flesh, they tried a bunch of different shit and I was the only one to survive.”

“How many people were in your batch?” Jesse asked softly.

“Fifty,” Gabriel said and let out a hissing breath through clenched teeth. “I think everyone dying was some sort of fuckin’ prediction to me getting the powers of walking death, because the scientists got a whole hell of a lot more than they bargained for with me.”

“You still haven’t told me all of what you got from SEP,” Jesse murmured. Honestly, he had assumed Gabriel and Jack had gotten the same abilities from SEP until he had started working with Gabriel in Talon and had seen the way the man could dissolve into smoke.

“I can steal the life from people,” Gabriel said before barking out a bitter laugh. “Maybe that’s why everyone else died, I stole their lives from them. I can turn into smoke, step through shadows, hell, I can even change my face if I try hard enough.” He broke off and Jesse could damn near hear the way he clenched his teeth. “The next batch of subjects, they tried to replicate what happened to me since it was so much more than they expected. They all died, so I was heralded as a singular success. Maybe that’s why I’m like this,” another bitter laugh, “But there ain’t no changing that, is there?”

“I mean— I’m like this and I don’t have that type of reasoning for it, it’s just the way I am,” Jesse said slowly. “Maybe that’s worse.”

“Definitely worse,” Gabriel chuckled and moved his hand from Jesse’s head to wrap around his shoulders. Jesse opened his eyes and leaned over so he was resting his head on Gabriel’s muscular shoulder. “But hey, it doesn’t bother me.”

Jesse looked up to where Gabriel was looking down at him with a slight smile. “Doesn’t bother me none either,” Jesse replied. “Means I get to be here with you at the very least.”

Gabriel rubbed Jesse’s shoulder and smiled at him. Jesse fell asleep to the warm sun, Gabriel’s touch, and the sound of Gabriel softly humming along to some classic rock.

——

“How long was I out for?” Jesse yawned and rubbed his eyes, they were still driving.

“About an hour, we’re almost there,” Gabriel flicked on his turn signal as they approached an intersection. They were the only car Jesse could see on the road and the land was covered in trees but he could hear the quiet, distant sound of waves crashing against the shore.

Jesse cracked his neck and stretched, “You weren’t lyin’ when you said you were miles away from everything.”

“Still wanna try running?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow and made the turn.

“Can’t say that the end result sounds unappealing,” Jesse grinned.

“Mmm, I think we could just skip to the end result,” Gabriel said. He slowed the car as they approached a large gate, drawing a low whistle out of Jesse.

“You know,” Jesse said as Gabriel pressed a button and the gates rolled open. “You’ve never shown me any of your houses before.” They had been together for nearly a year and most of their excursions had been on missions or within driving distance of a Blackwatch base.

“You’re about to be impressed,” Gabriel grinned and started driving again.

“Babe, I’m already impressed,” Jesse reached down to where Gabriel’s band was and interlaced their fingers. “So how far from any other people are you?”

“About twenty miles.”

Jesse whistled, “So that means we can have sex on the beach then?”

“We’re not having sex on the beach.”

“Gabe I ain’t never had sex on the beach before,” Jesse looked at him and frowned.

“You grew up in the desert, McCree, did you ever want to have sex laying in the sand there?”

“It’s the beach, it’s romantic.”

“I’m not getting sand in my foreskin, Jesse.”

“Your dick would be in my ass.”

“Sand gets everywhere; beach sand, desert sand, it’s all the same and I want it nowhere near my penis,” Gabriel flicked Jesse on his jaw. “We can fuck by the pool but we’re not having sex on the beach.”

Jesse’s frown deepened, “That ain’t the same, we could have pool sex at any Blackwatch facility.”

“Pool sex or no sex, your choice.” Gabriel took his eyes off of the road for the first time in ages and Jesse wanted to punch the smug look off of his face. Gone were the unreadable expressions from a year ago; Jesse had managed to worm his way into the smug grins and easy jokes that Gabriel had with Morrison and Ana Amari.

For better or for worse.

“Or we can relax on the beach this afternoon,” Jesse sighed, realizing Gabriel wasn’t gonna budge. “Work on our tans.”

Gabriel snorted and Jesse could feel his eyes on him, “We’re not Jackie, we don’t need much work on them.”

Jesse raised a brow, “You tellin’ me blondie tans? Pretty sure if he as much looks at the sun and he’s a boiled lobster.”

That drew a roaring laugh out of Gabriel, “Jack and I were partners in SEP, when he was going through his rounds of shots and immobile in the hospital ‘cause of the pain, I’d keep him talking — distract him from the pain, y’know? — he told me about the time he was working on his family farm as a kid and forgot sunscreen. The fucker was sent to the hospital he burnt so bad.”

“He do that in the Crisis?”

“Nah, the good ol’ government put an end to the burning with their tinkering,” Gabriel said. The trees started to clear and the sound of waves on the shore was getting louder and louder. “Doesn’t stop him from being a pasty little fucker though.”

Jesse chuckled and squeezed Gabriel’s hand as they pulled in towards the house. Well, calling it a house was underselling it; the place was a fucking mansion.

“What the fuck purpose do you have with a place this big?” Jesse asked.

“I’ll take Fareeha and her girlfriends here on their spring breaks and over the summer,” Gabriel drove into his garage and Jesse couldn’t help his stunned silence. He had been rich, filthy fucking rich back in Deadlock, his home had been a mansion. But this? It was fucking insane to even him. “I’ve got like an endless supply of cash between the crisis reward, the hush money for faking my death, and Talon. Why not waste it on a killer beach house?”

“Yeah, just— Jesus, fuck, Gabe. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. Show me around immediately,” Jesse hopped out of Gabriel’s car as soon as he parked it, even the fucking garage was impressive. It had some old cars and motorcycles, the kind with wheels, and Jesse wanted so badly to get under the hood and take them for a ride.

“Relax,” Gabriel chuckled as he got out of the car. “I’ll show you around later, but for now I wanna stretch my legs and read a book on the beach.”

“I just got a painful reminder that I’m fucking an old man,” Jesse said dryly, turning away from the classic 2010s sportscar to face Gabriel.

“You’re getting fucked by an old man, darling, let’s not turn things around,” Gabriel smirked. “Now come on because this old man wants to go take a nap in the sun before he has to go six feet under the ground because he’s old and decrepit.”

“You’re a right bag of bones, Blackwatch should cart you off to the nursing home,” Jesse responded, following behind Gabriel as he left the garage. He was painfully curious to see the rest of the house, but knew Gabriel would show it on his own time and that trying to poke and prod at him to do anything would only end up making him wait longer.

“Mm,” Gabriel hummed. “A right bag of bones who’s ready for his nap in the sun.”

“You do that and I’ll enjoy the water.”

“Now I might just need to stay awake so I can enjoy _that_ sight,” Gabriel’s voice took on a predatory tone that sent shivers down Jesse’s spine. He paused, hand on the door handle and turned to look at Jesse. “If I was being honest, I’d say this birthday trip was just a big excuse for me to get you dripping wet in nothing but swim trunks.”

Jesse grinned, wrapped an arm around Gabriel’s waist, and nosed at his neck, “You’ve seen me like that when we did water training two years ago.”

“Maybe, but now this is for my eyes only and I intend on enjoying every second of it,” Gabriel said, lifting his jaw up to let Jesse nose along it, sucking kisses as he went.

“Or we could start by enjoying ourselves here,” Jesse reached down to paw at Gabriel’s crotch. “It’s only fair to you since you didn’t get off in the car.”

Gabriel chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound before he brushed Jesse’s hand away, “How considerate of you, but I don’t feel like fucking in the garage. We have plenty of time for that later. Plus,” he paused to open the door, smirking as he looked down at Jesse. “I want to see you in some non regulation swimwear.”

“Jesus, Gabe, you didn’t get me a fucking speedo did you?”

Gabriel snorted and pushed Jesse inside, “God no, but they _are_ short and tight.”

Jesse couldn’t hold in his laugh, “Giving you the ability to pick out my clothes was a mistake, wasn’t it?”

“Maybe,” Gabriel squeezed out from Jesse’s arm to wrap _his_ arm around Jesse. “But do you really have an option?”

“Probably not,” Jesse was still laughing as he leaned into Gabriel’s warm touch and followed him inside, steps matching Gabriel’s exactly.

The inside was gorgeous, as to be expected, yet it was still different than what Jesse would have thought to picture when told Gabriel Reyes owned a beach house. Gabriel’s apartment on base was sparsely decorated, a few paintings, nice furniture, and a few personal items, but it was nothing excessive, nothing too bright, simple and clean.

His beach house was something else, it wasn’t overcrowded in decorations, but everything was significantly more modern in style in comparison to the almost classic style he had on base. Huge TVs lined the walls, fresh flower arrangements stood on tables, it was all so open and bright that Jesse couldn’t hold in his astonished chuckle.

“You thought I was gonna have a pitch black beach house, didn’t you?” Gabriel grabbed his chin and shook lightly.

“I don’t know what I was expectin’ to be honest,” Jesse laughed softly. “But it sure as hell wasn’t this, are these fucking gerber daisies, Gabe?”

“They’re my favorite,” Gabriel shrugged and toed off his shoes by the door causing Jesse to do the same. “Not everything I do is doom and gloom.”

Jesse leaned up to inspect a tropical painting, “Did you go full Jimmy Buffett here on me?”

“There’s margarita shit here,” was Gabriel’s answer.

Jesse snorted and walked slowly over to where a massive floor to ceiling wall of windows stood, giving a clear view of the beach and clear waters of the ocean. He let out a low whistle of appreciation at the sight, he had seen the beach plenty, but it was always when he was on mission or was being dragged to an Overwatch base at some coastal city. When he was a kid, he had mainly stayed in the southwest and only went to the beach a couple of times, so he had never had a chance to really appreciate it before.

“Technically I wasn’t allowed to build a place here,” Gabriel said as he walked up behind Jesse. Jesse heard a soft sound as Gabriel sat down on one of the white leather couches that faced the window wall. “But I technically died saving the world, so I was given free reign of property to buy, so I bought the prettiest goddamn slice of land here in Hawaii and built a killer beach house on it.”

“I— god, Gabe, I don’t even have words for this view,” Jesse ran a hand through his hair as he stared out at the beach. “It’s just fucking gorgeous, prettiest goddamn sight I’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve got a prettier sight right in front of me,” Jesse could hear the grin in Gabriel’s voice. “But seriously, just wait until sunset, Jess, I might need to get out a camera since you’ll probably start crying.”

Jesse ignored Gabriel’s snorting laugh, “So where’s my swim trunks that I’m expecting to be three sizes too small?”

“You done admiring the view?” Gabriel asked. “Shame, I just got settled in on the couch, might take a nap, I _am_ an old man afterall.”

“Fuck off, Gabe,” Jesse laughed, turning around to see Gabriel laying down, head propped up by an arm, watching Jesse with a smirk plastered on his face.

“Might need to give me a blowjob before I get you in your trunks.”

“Somebody just turned down sex,” Jesse cocked a brow and grabbed Gabriel by one massive forearm. “Get up, asshole, I want to get in that water.”

Gabriel let Jesse pull him up, Jesse knew that because he was able to actually fucking move the man. It wasn’t that Jesse was small or that he was weak, god no, he wasn’t that by any stretch of the imagination. It was impossible with the diet and exercise regiment the docs had him on. No, he was the same type of massive, beefy build that Gabriel was. But even with all that exercise, there was no match for the super soldier strength that Gabriel had. Trying to move Gabriel when he didn’t want to move was a fucking herculean task.

“You’re either gonna love or hate the trunks I bought you,” Gabriel said as Jesse pulled him to his feet. “Just forewarning you, either way they’re the only pair you’re getting.”

“You know, I thought sugar daddies were supposed to do what their sugar babies wanted,” Jesse replied, pursing his lips as Gabriel scooped him up. Over the past year, he had gotten used to the way that Gabriel liked to pick him up and carry him around in bridal style. He always prefered to walk, but there was no arguing with Gabriel and his strange ways.

“You thought wrong,” Gabriel said, eyebrows raised.

Jesse took the time as Gabriel marched him to wherever the fuck he wanted to go to examine the beach house further. He couldn’t even fathom the amount of money that went into the place that Gabriel used apparently once or twice a year. Even back in Deadlock when he had no small sum of cash, spending the amount that Gabriel surely had would have been a fucking pipe dream.

Gabriel carried him up a spiral staircase and Jesse wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s shoulders to nip at his neck, “You still haven’t told me the plans for the week.”

“I know.”

“So are you gonna tell me?”

Gabriel’s response was a chuckle as they got to the second floor and he lightly set Jesse down. Massive windows made up the wall for that floor as well and Jesse watched as two birds lazily flew together in the warm afternoon sun.

“I want you to fuck me against these windows at some point this week,” Jesse walked forward and pressed a hand to the window, still watching the birds. There wouldn’t be the true thrill of being caught, not when Gabriel was miles away from civilization, but the thought of being fucked against a floor to ceiling window was still enough to send excited shivers down Jesse’s spine.

“One thing at a time, sweetheart,” Gabriel rested a hand on Jesse’s lower back and kissed his jaw. “We’ve got a week to kill and plenty of surfaces to fuck on.”

With the slightest of pressure on the small of his back, Gabriel led Jesse down the hall, past closed doors and more massive windows until they finally reached a massive bedroom at the end of the hallway.

The bedroom was decorated more in the style that Jesse had come to expect from Gabriel, though with more stark whites and creams rather than natural brown or black leather. It made sense, Jesse realized, if Gabriel was to spend his time sleeping there, having it match the style he was more comfortable was reasonable.

“Your trunks are on the bed,” Gabriel motioned towards the large bed towards one end of the room. “I’ll grab some towels and get changed as well.”

Jesse nodded and walked towards the bed as Gabriel headed towards the bathroom. He clicked his tongue when he saw what the trunks were, they weren’t a speedo at the very least but they also weren’t what Jesse had been used to with Blackwatch water training. They looked more like extra short compression shorts rather than swimwear. Extra short compression shorts with...

“Is this a fucking dick pouch?” Jesse asked, voice raised so Gabriel could hear from the other room.

“The store called it a snuggle pouch,” Gabriel answered and Jesse couldn’t hold back his snorting laugh.

“You’re kidding, right?” He stripped from his shirt and pants before he slid on the trunks. They looked tight, they _were_ tight, but they were surprisingly comfortable. There was no way in hell he’d be able to wear them with anybody but Gabriel, though, not with the fucking way the trunks seemed to be made to accentuate his dick.

“Nope,” Gabriel walked out of the bathroom, towel around his shoulders and wearing swim trunks that were much more modest than Jesse’s, though not any longer. They seemed to be in a more traditional suit style, just about half the length of most.

“If a shark bites my dick off, I’m blaming you,” Jesse walked over to Gabriel and grabbed a towel from Gabriel’s outstretched arm.

Gabriel chuckled, “I’m willing to take that risk.”

Jesse tried to will back the flush he felt threatening to break through as he felt Gabriel’s eyes on him, soaking up every inch of bared flesh. It reminded him of when Gabriel dressed him up in lingerie and would sit there and just watch him, eating up the sight for several long minutes before he finally deigned to touch Jesse — or have Jesse touch himself as he continued to watch and give quiet directions.

“Right,” Jesse ran a hand through his hair and looked away from Gabriel’s intense gaze. “Let’s get to the beach.”

——

Gabriel hadn’t been joking about wanting to lay down, read a book, and nap on the beach, Jesse quickly found out. When they got to a good spot, Gabriel quickly laid down a towel, opened up an umbrella, grabbed a book and laid down in the shade.

“You sure you don’t want to get in the water?” Jesse asked as he watched Gabriel flip open his book.

“I’ll get in later,” Gabriel said. Jesse stared at the cover, frowning, it was some trashy fantasy romance about a cruel vampire king, his crazy husband, and a werewolf. He had heard of the series but hadn’t realized that it would be Gabriel’s speed.

“Okay then,” Jesse hummed, making a mental note to give Gabriel hell for his taste in trashy books later. He could do that at any time and he only had a week to enjoy his main goal; the waves lazily crashing against the shore mere yards away from him.

Jesse kissed Gabriel’s cheek and set his towel down next to him before heading past the hot, dry sand towards the water. The wet sand was blessedly cool after the scorching heat of the sun-heated sand.

A contented sigh left Jesse’s lips as he walked into the water. He could spend hours, if not the entire day, like this, he realized, warm water lapping against his ankles, shins, knees, waist, as he moved deeper into the salty water. It was peaceful and relaxing, wading in the lazy waves.

“Tomorrow morning we’re getting up and running five miles along the beach and swimming back,” Gabriel called as Jesse got up to his chest in the water.

“I thought this was supposed to be a vacation,” Jesse called back.

“Not being on base doesn’t mean you get to skimp on training,” Gabriel replied, Jesse turned around to face him and saw a shiteating grin was plastered on his face and his trashy book was lowered. “Bitch some more and I’ll bump it up to ten miles.”

“Jackass,” Jesse grumbled under his breath.

“What was that? You want fifteen miles?” Gabriel put a hand to his ear.

“I said I love you,” Jesse called back.

“I’ll pretend to believe that,” Gabriel snorted and raised his book again. Jesse made a face as he turned back around, he had assumed the week of vacation meant a week off from Gabriel’s hellish training sessions (which had only gotten more hellish after they had gotten together as Gabriel had said Jesse needed to start working at a higher level if he wanted to succeed within Talon) but apparently not.

At the very least, Jesse had the time that afternoon to relax and enjoy the warm water. The wave pools that Blackwatch used for ocean training had prepared him for far choppier water than the lazy waves that nudged at him. As Jesse relaxed in the water, laying down and letting the ocean to flow around him, his eyes drifted shut. He wasn’t falling asleep, no, he was still aware enough to make sure he wasn’t floating too far off, but it was relaxing with the way the salty spray of the water splashed on him and the way the ocean muffled his hearing.

He stayed like that, with his eyes shut and his breathing slowed to a calm, steady pace, for several long minutes. It was peaceful, like the only world was that of the small bit of ocean he was surrounded by. He opened his eyes to stare at the nearly cloudless sky and let out a small, breathless laugh as the endless sky seemed to bear down in a crushing weight on him.

“What’s so funny?” Gabriel had apparently grown bored of reading and Jesse watched as he swam towards him with strong, broad strokes.

Jesse repositioned himself so he was treading water and shook his head, “Nothing really, I just was struck by how small I was, I guess. Opened my eyes and was like Jesus fucking Christ.”

Gabriel stopped, about a yard or so from Jesse, and started treading water. He was silent for a few moments before he said, “During the Crisis, my face was plastered everywhere, like I was some kind of hero. You’d have thought that would have made me feel big, yeah?” He barked out a bitter laugh. “It made me feel like a fraud, acting like I was some sort of savior when in reality I was just a soldier doing his job. I was relieved when I was asked to fake my death so I could helm Blackwatch.”

“Asked to fake your death or told that it was gonna happen?” Jesse asked.

“Oh I was asked,” Gabriel said, bitter smile still plastered on his face. “I was asked in a way that left no room for a no. And so, to the world, Gabriel Reyes died at the end of the Crisis, assassinated as he gave a speech about peace and shit.”

“You sound bitter,” Jesse raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not, I’m really not, as I said, I was _beyond_ relieved,” Gabriel shook his head. “Being the Strike Commander’s a thankless fucking job and it’d be goddamn near impossible to do shit for Talon if I had that position.” He ran a hand through his hair and looked at Jesse, “But, back to the point, feeling small? The fact that we’re two men amongst billions? That’s good for us. Remember, the strike team was six people against what felt like an endless wave of bots and we somehow saved this fucking world.”

“Yeah, it’s just, I don’t know, Gabe,” Jesse fell back into a lying position on the water and closed his eyes. “I’m not even twenty one and here I am, leading black ops missions, running what used to be the most profitable weapons proliferation gang in the world. Yeah, I was born into it, but just — fuck, man — I’m just one man who can barely be classified as an adult.”

Gabriel stared at him for a moment, expression unreadable before he touched Jesse’s shoulder, hand dripping, “Come back to shore with me, Jess. I know what will help you out.”

Jesse dipped his head under the water and let the ocean become his entire world for a brief moment, exhalation causing a cascade of bubbles to rise to the surface before he had to come back up for air. “Yeah, yeah, okay,” he said slowly before he swam back to shore with Gabriel.

——

“I thought you said no beach sex,” Jesse laughed, a breathless sound as Gabriel pulled him onto his lap and nosed at his shoulder, nipping and biting the sun-warmed skin there. He felt loose and relaxed, a pleasant burn in his muscles from a massage from Gabriel’s powerful hands. Apparently beach sex and a massage were Gabriel’s ways of helping him out.

“We’re not having sex,” Gabriel replied, rolling his hips against Jesse’s ass, letting Jesse feel the hard bulge there. “My dick’s staying firmly in the sand free zone.”

“Babe, I hate to break it to you but this is — _ghh_ , fuck — some sort of sex,” Jesse screwed his eyes shut and groaned loudly as Gabriel wrapped a hand around his cock.

“You wanna shut the fuck up, McCree, or do I have to do that for you?” Gabriel growled in his ear, twisting his hand around Jesse’s dick.

“But sweetheart, you love when I run my mouth,” Jesse’s hands clenched on the towel underneath him as he ground down against Gabriel’s hard cock. “Almost as much as you love — _mmph,_ ” Jesse was cut off as Gabriel stuck three fingers in his mouth and Jesse winced at the bitter taste of sunscreen.

“What I love is when you use your mouth for something good, so suck on these for me,” Gabriel shoved his fingers deeper into Jesse’s mouth, making him gag before he quelled that reflex. He did his best to suck and lick Gabriel’s fingers, trying to clean them of the taste of sunscreen so he could enjoy the salty taste of Gabriel’s skin underneath.

“Much better,” Gabriel hummed, breath ever so slightly hitching as Jesse ground down against his cock once again. Jesse could almost see the smug smirk that was surely plastered on Gabriel’s face as he drew a groan out of Jesse, thumbing the sensitive head of his cock.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Jesse groaned, word garbled around the fingers in his mouth.

“It’s rude to talk with your mouth full,” Gabriel chided him and if Jesse had any doubts previous about his smirking, they vanished because he could fucking _hear_ the smirk in Gabriel’s words.

Gabriel was stroking him off languidly, touch maddeningly gentle, like he had all the time in the world. He stilled his hand in Jesse’s mouth too, content to let Jesse suck and lick at his own pace. And lick and suck Jesse did, he had sucked Gabriel off enough times to get real damn good at sucking body parts that were shoved into his mouth.

Gabriel made a contented noise as he rolled his hips once more against Jesse’s ass and stroked his cock in a lazy motion. He rested his head on the join of Jesse’s neck and shoulder and Jesse barely held back the full body shiver as he felt Gabriel’s warm breath puff on his jaw.

It was… relaxing in an odd way, different than how laying with his eyes closed in the water relaxed him. He didn’t feel alone, it was impossible to feel alone with the way Gabriel surrounded him, and Jesse supposed that maybe that was the point. Gabriel wanted to help him understand that he wasn’t just one man, Gabriel would forever be at his side.

Unlike most times when they had sex, they were quiet; no loud moans or words left either of their lips, only quiet, hitched breaths and the slick sound of Gabriel’s hand on Jesse’s cock. Gabriel’s presence behind him was something grounding, less of someone trying to get off and more of somebody trying to reassure Jesse of his presence and devotion in the most physical of ways.

Jesse still didn’t know if Gabriel truly loved him or loved what he had to offer, but nearly a year later Jesse cared as little as he did the first night he and Gabriel had sex. He didn’t ever need to know, didn’t want to know, not with how solid Gabriel’s presence was. Maybe one day he would be no longer useful to Gabriel and the love would stop, but in that moment, with Gabriel rutting against him and stroking his cock like he had all the time in the world to spend with Jesse, it felt like he and Gabriel would be together for an eternity.

Jesse came with a sigh muffled by Gabriel’s fingers in his mouth and he spilled over Gabriel’s fist around his dick. Gabriel whispered soft praise and kissed along his jaw as Jesse’s hips twitched minutely. It wasn’t a mind numbing orgasm, not like the ones he had when Gabriel would fuck him into the mattress, but it was pleasant, comforting. It was exactly what Jesse needed in the moment.

After a moment, when Jesse had begun to soften, Gabriel tucked his cock back into his trunks and wiped his hand off on the towel before pulling his fingers free from Jesse’s mouth. His dick was still pressing hard into Jesse’s ass but he wasn’t rutting against it anymore.

“Do you want me to suck you off?” Jesse asked, stretching his jaw.

“As I’ve said, my dick’s staying firmly in the sand free zone,” Gabriel said dryly and nosed along Jesse’s neck. “But, if we move to the pool I think I could find it in my heart to fuck you there.”

Jesse grinned and laughed loudly, “I’m starting to think that this was less of something to make me feel better and more of an excuse to fuck me, Gabe.”

“Honestly, I meant for this just to be a massage but you’re just too tempting in those trunks,” Gabriel said before sucking a mark on Jesse’s neck.

“You have only yourself to blame for that,” Jesse tilted his head to the side to allow Gabriel more space to suck and bite on. Honestly, he didn’t need to be fucked then, he was content to sit on Gabriel’s lap and let him mark up his entire neck and shoulders. Being with Gabriel was more than enough for him.

“I suppose I do,” Gabriel continued sucking spots on Jesse’s neck and his warm hands rubbed circles on his thighs and sides. “Can’t help that I have good taste.”

“Can’t help that you’re a horny motherfucker is more like it,” Jesse laughed. “Can we just stay like—”

A loud beeping interrupted Jesse and both his and Gabriel’s heads flipped towards the bags where Gabriel had brought their phones and some books. It was Jesse’s ringtone beeping and a frown grew on his face as he fished it out of a bag.

“Give me a moment to take this,” Jesse’s frown deepened as he stared at the caller ID, it was a man named Gibbs, one of the higher-ups in Deadlock and an old friend of his father’s, one of the men he had placed there and had specifically told not to contact him unless it was an emergency. Jesse sighed and stood up before walking towards the shore to take the call.

“It’s Deadeye, what do you need?” Jesse tried not to sound as irritated as he was at being interrupted but he was unsure of how successful he was at it.

His irritation only grew as the call continued, none of the news that Gibbs had to share was good. The man Gabriel had placed as the puppet leader of Deadlock apparently had enough of being a puppet and wanted Deadlock — and the money it offered — entirely for himself.

“Gabriel,” Jesse growled when he hung up the call after half an hour. “You told me that Antonio’s men could be trusted to do a good job.”

“They can.”

“Then why the fuck is Benito trying to run Deadlock for himself?”

“What now?” Gabriel asked. “Antonio had nothing but good words about Benito, he’s been one of his top men for years and I’ve worked with him in Talon before.”

“Apparently he’s a greedy fuck who thinks he can run _my_ gang,” Jesse couldn’t help the snarl. “So now I’ve got to deal with this shit while I’m in fucking Hawaii and supposed to be celebrating my birthday.”

“I think I have a solution to this problem,” Gabriel stood up and stared at Jesse with a frown. “Help me get everything back to the house and I’ll explain it to you when we’re dressed and showered.


	2. Chapter 2

“So, what’s your solution?” Jesse ran a towel through his wet hair as he left the bathroom, bare chested and wearing a pair of gray sweatpants.

“Unfortunately we’ll have to cancel our dinner reservations tonight,” Gabriel was laying on the bed, dressed in a deep v-neck shirt and dark jeans. On his lap was a tablet that he was furiously typing into. “Talon has been experimenting with genetic alterations on humans and I have a few of their snipers assigned to me for testing along with troopers and some others.”

“And this is relevant to my problem, how exactly?” Jesse frowned and tossed the towel to the ground so he could tie his wet hair back into a loose bun. 

“Relax, kid, I’m getting to it,” Gabriel waved a hand. “Pick up that towel first and then I’ll explain,” an expectant pause followed and Jesse’s frown deepened into a scowl as he picked it up and put it up in the bathroom. When Jesse returned, Gabriel continued, “We’ll need a strong force to break into the Grand Mesa Watchpoint where some key Deadlock members are held in maxsec.”

“Who are they?” Jesse asked as he walked over to the bed. He pushed at Gabriel’s legs to have Gabriel make room for him.

“Only one is relevant,” Gabriel scooted his legs over and Jesse sat in the vacated spot. Jesse watched Gabriel intensely as he paused to type some more into the tablet. “Since Benito has ended up becoming a liability, I had to reevaluate the setup we have currently in Deadlock and I think I understand the ideal candidate to run it under you.”

“And that is?” Jesse didn’t even  _ know  _ any ex-Deadlocks were being held in Grand Mesa.

“Your mother, Carmen Santos,” Gabriel didn’t even look up from the fucking tablet as he spoke.

“You told me she was dead,” Jesse’s voice was clipped, flat, emotionless. Inside of him a million emotions were circling at once, disbelief, anger, relief, betrayal. 

“I lied,” Gabriel shrugged.

“You lied.”

“Withholding some information is necessary,” Gabriel’s voice was entirely unapologetic and Jesse’s hands shook in anger. “If you had known your mother was alive before I had ensured your loyalty, it’s entirely possible that you would have tried something stupid.”

“What else did you think was  _ necessary _ to withhold from me?” Jesse ground out through gritted teeth. “I thought you were supposed to trust me at this point.”

Gabriel stared at Jesse with an unreadable look on his face, “I don’t trust anybody. Tell me, what would you have done if you had known your mother was alive and in prison, Jesse?”

“I would have worked on breaking her out,” Jesse said without hesitating.

There was silence for a moment before Gabriel barked out a cruel laugh, “And that’s exactly why I wasn’t planning on letting you know unless it was necessary. You don’t need a family, not with Blackwatch, not with Talon. I made this sacrifice and made the choice easier for you.”

“If you follow this up with something about you bein’ all the family I need, I’m gonna break your nose.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about it, but that lets me in on your thought process,” Gabriel’s smirk was nasty. “Do you think of me as your family? Do you want me to be your daddy, McCree?”

Jesse scowled at Gabriel, “Un-fucking-believable.” He stood up from the bed and paced around, “You think that you have the right to lie to me? To tell me that it was necessary to withhold information from me?” He barked out a nasty laugh as he watched Gabriel stand up from the bed with a scowl on his face. “And you expect me to fucking  _ trust  _ you?”

“Okay, Jesse, let’s put it this way for you,” Gabriel walked until he was a foot away from Jesse’s face and, despite his rage, it took everything within Jesse not to flinch away. “I’m the commander of a professional black ops organization, I led the team that stopped the Omnic Crisis, I’m a leader of Talon, every day I’m making tough decisions designed to make my teams the best of the best. So I was faced with a punk kid from one of the top gangs in the United States that I wanted on my team, problem is I didn’t know how far family loyalty went with him so I had two choices; lie to him and ensure his loyalty or tell him the truth and have him make a dumbass decision that puts _ my _ ass on the line for allowing that risk.”

Jesse opened his mouth to speak but Gabriel cut him off, “You reaffirmed that I made the correct decision as soon as you said that you would have broken her out yet somehow you’re still acting like I’m personally victimizing you by making necessary decisions.”

“We’re supposed to be equals.”

Gabriel laughed, “Equals? No, Jesse, we’re not equals, we’ve not even close to being equals. Partners? Yes, we’re partners, but we’re not equals. You’re intelligent and ruthless, my best asset, but I have decades of experience you don’t.”

Jesse stared at Gabriel’s smug face and exhaled a shaky, angry breath. Before he could even think about what he was doing, Jesse pulled his fist back and put all his strength behind a punch aimed straight at Gabriel’s face.

A punch that didn’t land.

A thick cloud of solid black smoke caught Jesse’s punch before it landed and Jesse couldn’t even process what was happening before he was down on the ground with that arm twisted behind his back.

“You’re acting like a child,” Gabriel growled, twisting Jesse’s arm to near breaking. Jesse grit his teeth to hold in the whine of pain, he didn’t want to give Gabriel the satisfaction. “Knowing your mother was alive would have been completely pointless and you know it. Calm the fuck down so we can get work done.”

Jesse made an annoyed sound as Gabriel tightened his grip on his arm. He stayed tensed up, ready to fight for a few more seconds but eventually he let his body fall limp under Gabriel’s grip.

Gabriel’s grip loosened but he still held Jesse to the ground as he spoke next, “You’re gonna make an example of Benito and whoever’s supporting him. It’s gonna be public and it’s gonna be nasty. After that we take my unit and raid Grand Mesa for your mother and bring her back to the Gorge.”

“Are you gonna let go of me?”

“Are you gonna do something stupid again?”

Jesse closed his eyes and let his forehead hit the floor, “No.”

“Get up,” Gabriel released his grip and let Jesse scramble to his feet, tail between his legs. “Have you been keeping up with your piloting classes?”

“Of course,” Jesse lied.

Gabriel shot him a dry look, “No you haven’t, Lane told me you’ve been smoking with Blaise instead of hitting the sims.”

“They’re a waste of time; I learn better on the field, not in sims,” Jesse muttered under his breath.

“Well better hope that’s the case because I haven’t had piloting training in a decade so you’re flying the transport jet.”

“Excuse me?” Jesse tripped over his own feet in shock as he tried to follow after Gabriel. 

“Did I stutter? I’ve got a setup for ops here and you’re taking us to the Gorge.”

“And the reason we didn’t just fly directly here then is…?”

“You’re a smart kid, Jesse, think about it,” Gabriel took a turn down a hall Jesse hadn’t had a chance to go through yet and he was still scrambling to keep up with Gabriel’s fast pace.

Jesse took a moment to think before slowly saying, “Morrison doesn’t know about the setup. It’s for Talon, isn’t it?”

“Bingo, Jack’s got no clue I have this so if we had just flown in… well, he’d have questions I wouldn’t have answers for,” Gabriel stopped at a wall and slid back a painting, revealing a hand scanner.

Jesse was quiet as Gabriel scanned in his hand and the wall opened, revealing a long staircase. He ran his thumb along his nails, thinking in silence and following behind Gabriel as dim lights flickered on and lit their descent.

“You know, I’m gonna kill Benito,” Jesse said after several long seconds, breaking the silence and changing the topic. “It’s gonna be with all the other admins there so they see what happens when they think of betrayin’ me. I think that I’ll break all the bones in his hands first, maybe his jaw, maybe his ribs, then I’m gonna slit his goddamn throat and let him choke to death on his own blood.”

“And if anybody tries to take his side?” Gabriel asked.

“You’re gonna put a shot right between their eyes,” Jesse clenched his fists and set his jaw as he stared forward. “I’m putting my foot down and if they ain’t gonna respect my authority then they don’t got a spot in my Deadlock. Unfortunately for them, losing that spot means that they got a one way ticket to a shallow desert grave, I’m not gonna risk them talking to the feds.”

“I never really had a chance in hell to train the Deadlock out of you, did I?”

“You never even really tried, did you?” Jesse asked in response.

Gabriel’s dark chuckle was the only answer that he needed.

——

“So I’m done with the skull shit?” Jesse asked, staring at the mask Gabriel had set in front of him. They were flying somewhere over the pacific and Jesse had turned autopilot on an hour earlier.

“Yeah, try on the mask,” Gabriel replied as he laid out a few more items of clothing; a leather jacket with deep red accents, dark jeans, gloves, a turtleneck that would make sure none of his skin was visible, chaps, and a dark red serape. It was all much more in line with what Jesse would have preferred to wear rather than what Gabriel had him wear the first time, no more stark white when they were to get bloody.

They weren’t putting on a show that day, they were proving a point.

The mask was polished, dark metal. Unlike Gabriel’s, there were no holes, no empty spaces within the mask. A face was implied by the layering, sharp cheekbones started the second layer and a solid nose and brow bone made up the third, but there was no comfort to be found in the gaze of the glowing eyes, one white, the other red, only a detached look.

Much more Jesse’s style than the cow skull Gabriel had him wearing for the past year.

Jesse picked up the mask and turned it around in his hands. It was heavy, heavier than he expected. “How much tech is in this?” He asked, bringing the mask to his face. He flinched in surprise as it came to life, metal molding around the back of his head until his face was completely covered. It was black, completely black for several long seconds before light flickered and suddenly, a screen lit up, his entire field of vision projected in front of him.

“Tap the side of your mask twice,” Gabriel responded, as Jesse tapped twice, Gabriel’s biometrics displayed to the side of him; heart rate and temperature were the main ones and his weak points were also being calculated, changing as he moved, letting Jesse know the best ways to take him down.

With two taps, the biometrics faded away, another two and the weak points were gone. Jesse whistled low, “There a reason you’ve waited this long to hook me up with this?” His voice was distorted, a low growl, still the same as it had been with the last mask. 

“It’s a prototype, brand new tech,” Gabriel replied and picked up his own mask. “I’ve got some similar stuff in mine now, but yours has a lot more. It’ll hook up with your new gun, helping you with shots — not that you need the help, but you’ll be shooting better than ever now.”

“Interesting,” Jesse hummed, he tapped the mask a few more times and his view changed to an infrared setting and then a night vision setting. “What type of filtering does it got?”

“Below Blackwatch level gas masks but above military level,” Gabriel said and leaned in front of Jesse. To Jesse’s credit, he managed to keep his breath steady and even as Gabriel grabbed the bottom of his mask and turned it around, inspecting it. “It’ll protect from pretty much all small caliber rounds, but as soon as you get to rifles you’ll still be toast, same as the last mask.”

“So don’t get shot in the face, got it,” Jesse chuckled.

“Exactly,” Gabriel grinned well and stroked the underside of Jesse’s chin. Jesse cocked his head in confusion at the gesture, but he felt the metal of the mask leave the back of his head and Gabriel pulled the mask off. He paused for a moment to set the mask down on the table, “I talked with a few other council members and we’re gonna pull some of our moles today with this, they’re gonna get us into the prison at Grand Mesa and loosen security.”

“And then…?”

“We have assassins that will take them out afterwards, they’ll be no use to us at that point,” Gabriel’s voice was cool and detached as he spoke. “They’re expendable assets for us.”

Jesse chewed on his bottom lip while he thought, “I ain’t sure that this is a good plan, if we reveal moles in Overwatch now, that’s gonna bring a new level of scrutiny.”

“We’re prepared for it and have people set up to take the fall,” Gabriel fiddled around with the clothing on the table. “It’ll be frustrating for several months but without using these assets we’d be looking at a  _ much  _ harder time breaching into the prison. Grand Mesa has one of the most secure prisons in the world within it and the Deadlocks are kept deep within it, especially due to the hell your mother raised.”

“What did she do?” Jesse asked.

“Killed her cellmate and ten guards. She was almost the first person to escape from the Watchpoint,” Gabriel smiled grimly. “She’s been held in solitary in the deepest part of the prison ever since.”

Jesse whistled low, “What’d she use?”

“She managed to smuggle a weight out of the exercise room, nobody knows how because they have that shit on lockdown. She bashed her cellmate’s head in with it and after the guards came to respond she took down one, got his baton, and from there on out she managed to almost escape.”

“What stopped her?”

“Me.”

——

The desert was scorching hot when Jesse stepped off the plane. The heat wasn’t helped by the several layers of leather and body armor he was wearing, but honestly, he didn’t mind the heat at all. It was what he grew up in and he missed it terribly when he was in Switzerland.

“You managed not to crash the jet, congrats,” Gabriel’s voice was the modulated growl of his mask as he wrapped an arm around Jesse’s waist.

“As I told you, I learn better in the field.”

Gabriel looked like he was going to respond with some snarky comment, but before he could, a lanky man with salt and pepper hair and a beat up leather jacket came jogging towards the two men from a parked Jeep.

“Gibbs,” Jesse greeted with a half wave of two fingers. “Did you get everything set up?”

“What are you planning, Jesse?” Gibbs asked by way of greeting, he was the one person in Deadlock to know Jesse’s true identity. Jesse had figured if there was anyone he could trust, it was his father’s old friend, Joel Gibbs.

“I’m gonna kill Benito, same as we’ve always done with troublemakers,” Jesse replied. “Afterwards, Reaper and I are gonna break mom outta prison and set her up here, no more Talon lacked running things, just Deadlock the way it’s always been.”

“I thought she was dead,” Gibbs’ brows knit together in confusion.

Jesse hid his scowl by fitting his mask on over his face, letting the metal form over the back of his head. When he spoke, his voice was a modulated growl, “I did too, but she’s in the Grand Mesa Watchpoint and after I teach Benito a lesson, Reaper and I will be breaking her out.”

Gibbs nervously ran a hand across the scruff on his face, “I know Carmen, Jesse, and she ain’t gonna be happy to play second fiddle, even if it is you.”

“She’s not gonna have a choice and she’s not gonna know who I am,” Jesse’s lips were tight beneath his mask and he started walking towards the parked Jeep. “Nobody but you and Reaper can know who I am,” he wouldn’t have even let Gibbs know his identity if he hadn’t seen the necessity of it. He needed Gibbs’ utter loyalty to him in Deadlock and the only way he had seen to secure it was letting him know who he was.

“And you still won’t let me know who Reaper is,” Gibbs grumbled as he slid into the driver’s seat, Jesse slid into the passenger's seat beside him and Gabriel took the back.

“It’s a necessity,” Jesse replied, watching the way red dirt was kicked up in thick clouds as Gibbs accelerated up the dirt road from the bottom of the gorge to an entrance to the Deadlock base. They were several miles away in a remote part of the gorge which had been a fucking bitch to land in.

Jesse didn’t miss the way Gibbs’ eyes nervously flicked to Gabriel in the rear view mirror as he drove. “There’s… concern within the admins about his involvement. Those of us that are old Deadlock still remember his involvement in attacks on us.”

“I’d like to remind them that he’s the one who single handedly funded bringing us back,” Jesse leaned back in his seat and held his hand out the open window of the Jeep. “He’s not gonna want to see his investment go to waste.”

“Itou’s not happy.”

“Blake Itou can go fuck himself, he’s lucky I let him have an admin spot,” Jesse spat. “After the shit he pulled with pa back in the day he deserved a knife in his throat not a seat at the table.”

Gibbs’ lips drew into a thin line, “I know where you’re coming from, but his family’s got as deep of ties to Deadlock as the Santos family and if you had stiffed him a spot they would have raised hell.”

“Which is why I gave him the spot,” Jesse’s hands clenched into unhappy fists. “Is he siding with Benito on this because of Reaper?”

“Luckily, no,” Gibbs said with a sigh. “He likes this Talon involvement less than he likes Reaper. He’s been saying we need to be pure Deadlock. Hearing Carmen will be replacing Benito will hopefully help placate him.”

“Not like they’ve been friends since she cheated on him with pa,” Jesse snorted. “If he acts out put a bullet through his brain.”

“Still, to him, having her’s better than having the Italian,” Gibbs ran a hand through his short hair before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. “They may have beef but she’s Deadlock and that’ll be enough for now.”

“I’m going to place bugs in his offices and house,” Gabriel spoke up for the first time. “I don’t trust him and I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“I can get you access,” Gibbs said, taking a left turn at a fork in the dirt road. The ride was much rougher than Jesse was used to, hover cars didn’t work on the dirt down at the bottom of the gorge, requiring actual wheels and every single dip and bump sent shockwaves through the car.

“Have that ready by the end of the day and I’ll take care of it when we return with Carmen,” Gabriel replied. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jesse watched the nervous way Gibbs rolled the cigarette between his lips. He had known old Deadlock members had been uncomfortable with the idea of working with Reaper, but the reality was interesting… and annoying, he wasn’t looking forward to dealing with more shit centered around Gabriel’s involvement.

“I want to inspect the warehouse while I’m here,” Jesse said in an attempt to change the topic from Gabriel, drumming his fingers on the dusty metal of the side of the car.

“I can arrange that,” Gibbs said, exhaling a puff of smoke. “We’re still working on getting back to proper order, but we’ve fixed the weak points you sent us from the Blackwatch raid notes.”

Jesse nodded, “Good, Reaper I want you to test that for me.”

If Gabriel bristled under Jesse casually giving him orders, he didn’t show it. He simply nodded and said, “Will do.”

Jesse stared at the dusty red rock of the gorge through the open window of the Jeep. There wouldn’t be another raid on Deadlock by Blackwatch, but Overwatch proper was another story and he wanted to be wholly prepared. There were too many damn threats, both in the inside of Deadlock and the outside. 

——

The conference room was full when Jesse and Gabriel finally walked in. The meeting had been scheduled for half an hour earlier but he and Gabriel had spent that time walking the facilities and setting up a few discrete bugs around the place. By the time they finally walked in, the group of ten admins was fidgety and uncomfortable, obviously unhappy with being made to wait so long.

Jesse took slow, measured steps towards the head of the conference table, spurs jangled as he walked, the only sound in the room. All eyes were on him as he finally sat down, setting a parcel down on the table in front of him. Gabriel remained by the door, arms crossed.

“Thank you all for coming here today on such short notice,” Jesse drawled, eyes scanning the assembled group. “As you know, last year with the assistance of Reaper and other Talon operatives, I brought Deadlock back to a place where our name could be feared once again. Unfortunately, I’m currently in a position where being here myself all the time is impossible — it’s also why my identity remains a secret. So I’ve relied on assistance from Benito to run Deadlock in my stead.”

Jesse paused and opened his parcel, slowly pulling out a few tools, a hammer, a few knives, some pliers, and he arranged them on the table. “Now, I’ve come to realize that I might have made a mistake there; I picked the wrong man for the job. Benito seems to think that he deserves to be the top dog here, that Deadlock should be his because I  _ graciously  _ let him have this position.” Jesse looked up to Benito who was looking around nervously, “Do you have anythin’ to say for yourself?”

“Could you explain what the hell is going on here?” Itou cut in with a frown. 

“Benito has overstayed his welcome,” Gabriel said. “Deadeye and I have decided that we need another person in the spot he’s currently filling.”

“And a little lesson could be taught with this,” Jesse stood up, grabbing a coiled length of rope from the parcel. “Deadlock is  _ mine _ , and if any of you try what Benito’s been doing, what I’m about to do to him will seem goddamn merciful.”

The holoscreen at the edge of the conference room lit up at the press of a button from Gabriel with documents and textlogs from Benito, all correspondences and plans to start running Deadlock for himself.

“I can explain,” Benito spoke up for the first time. Sweat beaded on his brow and, through the biometrics in Jesse’s mask, Jesse could see the way his heart was racing.

Jesse was silent as he picked up a hammer and a knife in his free hand and took slow, measured steps towards Benito. “I actually really don’t care,” he said.

Benito’s eyes were wide when Jesse stopped in front of his chair. “You’re insane,” his voice was breathless and his eyes flickered between the tools in Jesse’s hands and some of the admins at the table. “You guys can’t be seriously about to let him do this. I’m the one who’s done the actual work here.”

Nobody stood up to help Benito as Jesse uncoiled the rope so Benito seemed to decide to help himself as he jumped up from his chair and reached for the hammer on the table. He barely wrapped a few fingers around it before Jesse reacted, grabbing the knife and driving it through his hand and into the wood of the table. 

“Wrong choice, Benny,” Jesse growled while Benito howled in pain. He left the knife pinning Benito’s hand to the table where it was and grabbed the hammer.

“No, no, no, no, please don’t,” Benito’s voice quivered as he stared at the weapon in Jesse’s hand. Jesse tossed the hammer a few times, feeling the weight. “I swear, I’ll leave, go back to Italy, never bother Deadlock again.”

Jesse barked out a cruel laugh, a sound made even crueler by the vocal distortion of his mask. “Weren’t you just saying how you’ve been doing the work here?”

“Look, Deadeye, just let me leave, I—“

“Shut the fuck up,” Jesse growled, swinging the hammer down onto Benito’s forearm and drawing a strangled scream of pain out of his lips. The other admins merely averted their eyes, they had all done worse throughout their years in Deadlock.

Jesse swung the hammer again, landing the blow on Benito’s jaw and the crack of the bone was painfully loud. When Jesse drew the hammer back, his jaw hung open limply at a wrong angle.

Again and again, Jesse slammed the hammer down on Benito’s body, bones cracking at each impact. At some point, Benito fell to his knees, barely propped up by his hand that was pinned to the table by the knife. Bloody drool dripped from his broken jaw and he looked barely conscious, low moans of pain were the only sounds he made.

Jesse was panting hard when he finally let the hammer fall from his hand to the ground. Fury coursed through his veins and he pulled the knife free from Benito’s hand, watching as he crashed to the ground. A strangled scream came from his throat as Jesse stepped down on his broken ribs.

Jesse wondered if Benito was even conscious anymore as he knelt down and dragged the tip of the knife along his throat, watching as a thin line of blood appeared. His eyes were opened, wide and terrified, but Benito seemed to be out of his mind in pain and fear.

Jesse plunged the knife into Benito’s neck, feeling skin and tendons separate. Blood jetted out as Jesse dragged the knife with a small amount of effort. He grunted and held Benito’s head down with his free hand when he reached the windpipe, struggling to get the knife through. When he finally did, the rest of the way across Benito’s neck was easy and before long he was finished and covered in tacky blood.

Jesse threw the knife to the side and stood up, holding Benito’s lifeless, broken body by his hair. “Somebody take care of this for me, just toss him to the desert for the coyotes,” Jesse said. “And let this be a lesson to you; betray me and you  _ will  _ die.”

“Who’s gonna replace him?” Sara Diaz asked, she wasn’t much older than Jesse and had barely avoided Blackwatch’s raid four years previous. She had been in Mexico delivering weapons to Los Muertos. Before the raid she had been quickly working her way up the ladder in Deadlock so she had been an immediate choice for Jesse to have as an admin.

“Reaper and I have a troop of Talon assets ready to break Carmen Santos out of prison in the Grand Mesa Watchpoint,” Jesse let go of Benito’s body and crossed his arms. “If I had known she was alive a year ago, I would have instated her immediately. Deadlock needs Deadlock blood to run it, not arms dealers who’ve never stepped foot in a desert before in their lives.”

There was shocked silence for a moment. “We were told Carmen and Jesse were killed in the raid,” Itou said, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know about her kid,” Jesse lied. “But Carmen’s alive.”

Itou looked at him with a hint of suspicion on his face and Jesse prayed that he wasn’t putting the pieces together on his identity. He didn’t look the same as he did back before the raid, he was more bulked out with thick muscles thanks to Blackwatch’s rigorous training, but four years was a lot of time for a kid to grow into a man and Blake Itou wasn’t a fool.

The look of suspicion passed, “If you can’t retrieve her, I volunteer myself to take Benito’s role,” Itou said, arms crossed tight against his chest. “I’ve got the same sort of claim to that spot that she does.”

“I’ll take that into consideration,” Jesse said, lying through his teeth. He knew Itou had a strong claim to the role, as strong as he did, but he would have died before letting Blake Itou lead Deadlock.

His eyes scanned all of the people in the room as he thought, if the mission failed he didn’t know who he’d choose to lead the gang. He ground his teeth together, lost in thought, there wouldn’t be any room for failure in the mission.

——

“I thought you said the moles were supposed to make this easier, Reaper,” Jesse yelled as he took cover behind a pillar. Gunfire was everywhere, guards and Overwatch agents fighting with Talon troopers. The power was out and Jesse saw the world in shades of green through the night vision of his mask.

“They did— we’d be dead already if it weren’t for the moles,” Gabriel yelled back, snapping the neck of a guard before shooting another two.

“Why does it feel like every time I’m on a mission with you it ends in a massacre?” Jesse asked, letting off three shots, each bullet landing between the eyes of guards.

Gabriel responding chuckle was lost to the firefight as Jesse let out more shots, rapidly reloading as he bolted down the corridor. A small map was in the corner of his view, letting him know what turns he needed to take to get to Carmen’s level of the prison.

“That’s a locked door up there,” Jesse called, scowling as he saw their next destination was blocked off by a heavy metal door. “We got something to take care of it?”

“Nope,” Gabriel caught up to Jesse and started to jog in time with him.

“The fuck do you mean nope?”

“Relax,” Gabriel shot another guard. “I’ve got a plan, sweetheart.”

Jesse grit his teeth and slowed down as they approached the closed door. “Whatever it is should probably hurry up,” a new wave of guards was on its way and there was very little cover in the hallway.

“Do you trust me?” Gabriel asked.

“Of course— what are you planning Reaper?” Suspicion tinged Jesse’s voice.

“This might feel cold,” Gabriel wrapped his arms around Jesse.

A deathly chill overtook Jesse’s body, cold enough that he almost forgot what it was like to be warm. An even more piercing, painful cold pierced through him as the wave of guards opened fire and the bullets… the bullets passed through smoke.

Jesse wanted to turn around, to ask Gabriel what was happening, but he couldn’t control his body or force words to come. He wasn’t even sure if he had a body or where Gabriel was, they were a near formless cloud of smoke that quickly, dizzyingly moved up through a ventilation shaft. 

The chill only grew worse as they moved, every second that passed made the cold overtake Jesse to the point where he became barely conscious. He was only aware of the painful, deathly cold. It was like nothing he had ever known or experienced before and it was complete agony.

Jesse collapsed as soon as his body reformed. His fingers clawed at the floor and he gasped in massive breaths, “What the  _ fuck  _ was that?” His entire body was shaking and the chill still lingered within him. “I’ve never been so cold.”

Gabriel looked down at him, “Can you get up?”

Jesse was still trembling but he managed to stand up on unsteady legs. “G— Reaper what was that?”

“I wasn’t sure if it would work,” Gabriel wrapped an arm around Jesse’s waist to support him as they moved through the corridor. “I’ll explain it later, when we’re done with this.”

“I think I deserve a brief explanation now at the very least,” Jesse couldn’t tell if he was going crazy or if he still seemed hazy, smoky.

“It’s part of…” Gabriel trailed off and picked Jesse up to run down the hall faster than Jesse could at the moment with his shaky legs. “My abilities, I can turn to smoke like that.”

They rounded a corner and the minimap in Jesse’s mask picked up their location once again. Whatever Gabriel had done had gotten them close to Carmen’s cell. “Put me down, I can walk,” Jesse’s legs still felt shaky, but he was more worried about guards than his ability to move quickly.

Gabriel obliged and Jesse’s heart was in his throat as he matched Gabriel’s fast pace running down the hall. It was going to be his first time seeing his mother in years and he… he didn’t know how he felt. It wasn’t like it was going to go back to him living with his mother, being the crown prince of Deadlock. He couldn’t even let her know that he was her son.

A gunshot pulled him out of his thoughts; guards found them once again. Jesse pulled out his gun and shot quickly while Gabriel pulled the trigger on his massive shotguns, spraying birdshot.

“Where are the modified troops?” Jesse asked, leaping over the body of a guard while he shot two more.

“The snipers are on the outside taking care of guards,” Gabriel whacked a man with a shotgun and Jesse heard the way his skull cracked under the force of the blow. “Assassins are on their way in and we’ve got some heavies dropping shortly to cover our way out.”

Jesse stumbled as he turned a corner, he went too fast when his legs still were shaky. The stumble nearly cost him as he ran damn near face first into a massive brick wall of a guard. He couldn’t pull his gun up fast enough as the guard aimed his gun straight at Jesse’s face.

The guard’s head exploded, gore covering Jesse’s jacket and mask, and a loud gunshot rang out. Not from Gabriel, Jesse, or the guard, but from behind him.

“Apologies for taking so long, Reaper, Deadeye,” Ueda held a rifle and stepped out from behind the guard. She wasn’t wearing her Blackwatch uniform, instead her short hair was pulled back and she was dressed in an upgraded uniform of the standard Talon trooper. “The guards ahead have been cleared out by the assassins I oversaw for you, Reaper.”

Gabriel nodded, “Get us to Carmen, Ueda.”

Ueda nodded falling into a jog in front of Gabriel and Jesse. The walls of the prisons were painted red with blood and as they ran down the halls of the prison, body parts were strewn about, like the assassins had ripped apart the bodies. Jesse held back a shudder at the thought of being on the bad side of Talon.

“You set them on the cells I specified?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah,” Ueda nodded, pausing in front of a cell door to scan her hand. “They’re at work as we speak.”

“Good,” Gabriel nodded, folding his arms across his chest.

“The enemies of Talon will be eliminated,” Ueda said softly as the door opened. “Carmen Santos’ cell is down this hall, the last one, code 90489 to open it.”

They were so close to his mom and Jesse’s heart ached. The reality of what they were doing was fully setting in for Jesse and his throat felt thick as he swallowed. 

“Anybody comes down this hall, kill them,” Gabriel walked past her and Jesse followed. As they got further down the hall, footsteps echoing loudly, Gabriel’s voice was gentle as he asked, “Are you ready for this?”

Jesse closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Yeah, yeah, I’m ready.” He shook his head to clear his mind. He exhaled slowly and stood beside Gabriel as he keyed in the code to the cell at the end of the hall.

Slowly, painfully slowly, the door to the cell opened. Jesse chewed on his lip anxiously and his toes tensed in his boots as he saw his mother for the first time in years. She had lost weight, had a few more wrinkles on her face, and her hair was cut short and was its natural black, not dyed a honey blonde like he remembered, but it was her. It took everything in him to stay still and not run to her side when the door fully opened.

“Are you here to kill me?” Her voice was steeled and icy as she stared at Gabriel and Jesse.

“We’re here to offer you a job,” Gabriel crossed his arms and leaned on the frame of the cell door. “And we’d be  _ very _ disappointed if you refused.”

Carmen narrowed her eyes, “Why should I trust you? I don’t know who the guy with the odd-eyed mask is, but I know you. You were a thorn in Deadlock’s side.”

“Times changed,” Jesse steeled his own voice, Carmen didn’t know who he was, couldn’t know. He had to keep it that way and make her understand he was in charge. “Reaper’s funding for a new Deadlock under me, and I want you to lead it while I can’t.”

Carmen barked out a laugh, “And if I refuse?”

“I’ll shoot you and the story of Carmen Santos ends in prison,” Gabriel answered, clawed fingers drumming on his massive biceps. It took everything from Jesse not to flinch at the sentence. “Sounds like an easy decision to me.”

“You’re not giving me much of an option there, are you?” Carmen said, frowning. “I could betray you as soon as we’re in the Gorge.”

Gabriel laughed, “I don’t think you understand, Carmen. We came straight here from the Gorge where Deadeye had just beaten the previous leader under him to death for thinking he could run Deadlock. Believe me, betraying us would only end poorly for you.”

Carmen’s frown still stretched across her face but she sighed and said, “It’s better than rotting in prison. I have demands, though.”

“If it’s about salary I can promise you, you’ll be well compensated,” Gabriel said, pulling himself off the wall.

“I want a seat on the Talon council,” Carmen said.

Gabriel stared at her, “I’ll work something out.” He paused and held out a handgun, “If you turn this on either of us, your brains will be on the walls.”

Carmen grabbed the gun from his hand, “Believe me, Reaper, I have enough of a self preservation instinct to wait before I tried anything.”

Gabriel turned around to start walking down the hall, “I’m sure you do.”

——

“What’s the Strike Commander saying about this?” Jesse asked, leaning on Gabriel’s shoulder, they were flying somewhere over the northwest in an attempt to evade Overwatch. Ueda was flying — she had much more experience than Jesse and they were going to drop her off at the Gorge. After her assistance in breaking out Carmen, she’d be out of Blackwatch and Jesse wanted her in Deadlock to help keep an eye on things.

“He and Ana Amari have a press conference going right now,” Gabriel scratched at his chin under his mask and flicked through a news article. “Said Overwatch is gonna put its full force into stopping Talon.”

Jesse laughed, “Like that’s possible.”

“Nobody realizes how deep the roots of Talon go,” Gabriel shut the tablet off and stretched. “I’m interested to see how this goes.”

“How deep  _ do  _ the roots go?” Carmen asked, walking into the area of the jet Jesse and Gabriel were set up in.

“Deep,” Gabriel answered. “In Overwatch, deep enough to stop any official investigation or to feed it false information that the Strike Commander will trust.”

Carmen raised an eyebrow and lit a cigarette, “If my own son joined Blackwatch and is sitting here in front of me on a Talon mission, how much deeper are we talking.”

Jesse blanched, “Excuse me?”

“Jesse, not only did I raise you, but your pa and I taught you how to shoot, there was no way I wouldn’t have recognized the way you held a gun,” she exhaled a puff of smoke and ran a hand through her hair. “Take off the mask and let me see you.”

Jesse looked to Gabriel who nodded slightly. Biting his lower lip, Jesse slowly removed the mask from his face and stared at his mother. “I thought you were dead,” his voice was the barest whisper and he couldn’t help the embarrassing, hot tears that pooled in his eyes.

“I’ll leave you to this heartwarming reunion,” Gabriel stood up.

“No, stay, I have questions for you and Jesse,” Carmen looked away from Jesse for a moment to stare at Gabriel.

“Mom—”

“Are you sleeping with my son?” Carmen asked, cigarette held between her teeth.

“ _ Mom _ ,” Jesse squawked, face heating up.

Gabriel sat back down, expressionless mask staring at Carmen, “Yes.”

“ _ Gabe _ ,” Jesse groaned. “Please don’t answer anything else she asks.”

“Take off your mask, I want to see who my son’s fucking,” Carmen sat down across from Jesse and Gabriel and Jesse’s face heated even further.

“Technically, I’m the one—”

“Gabe holy shit I’m going to fucking murder you,” Jesse wanted to die. He wanted to jump out of the fucking jet. Death would be merciful compared to Gabriel confirming to his mother that yes, he was in a relationship with a man that was her age.

Carmen snorted and crushed her cigarette in an ashtray, “Come on now, take off the mask.”

Gabriel slowly took off the skull mask and Jesse died a little more on the inside. This was his punishment for everything bad he had ever done in his life. Carmen made a small noise of recognition as she looked at Gabriel.

“Those are some pretty deep roots Talon has there, Commander,” she said and turned her eyes to Jesse. “Did your dad dying leave some scars we should have talked about more, Jesse? Because unless you suddenly aged twenty years when I was in prison...” Gabriel let out a choked laugh at her comment.

“Can we please never talk about this again,” Jesse buried his face in his hands and groaned. “Please,  _ please  _ never even think about this ever again.”

Carmen laughed, “Relax, Jesse. Who all knows your identities in Deadlock?

“Joel Gibbs knows who Jesse is, doesn’t know who I am, Kaede Ueda will be joining and she has worked with both of us both with Talon and with Deadlock, so she knows, and you,” Gabriel managed to contain his laughter enough to answer the question, wiping a tear from his eye. “Tell anybody who I am or who Jesse is and I won’t hesitate to kill you,” Gabriel’s voice turned dead serious as he stared at her. 

“Talk about mood whiplash,” Carmen muttered under her breath. Then louder, she said, “I won’t, but I want in on the council for Talon.”

“I can’t promise anything for that, but I can at least get you an admin position,” Gabriel said. He turned his mask in his hands as he thought, “Work on getting Deadlock back to the heights it had been at before the raid and hopefully you’ll be able to get in to the council through that work alone. None of the other major American arms gangs are associated with Talon, so we can help pave the way for Deadlock to overtake their territories.”

“What have you been doing so far?”

Gabriel looked to Jesse and Jesse nodded, this was a topic far easier to talk about than his relationship with Gabriel. “Give me a moment to grab my tablet and I can show you the plans we’ve been working on and the work I’ve been putting into it,” he said, standing up. As he passed Carmen, he touched her shoulder. “I really missed you, mom,” he whispered.

Carmen squeezed his hand, “I missed you too, kid, and happy birthday”

——

It was dawn when Jesse came to. He and Gabriel had gotten back in the early evening two days after they left and after a quick shower, the two collapsed near instantly into bed. When Jesse got up, the sun barely beginning to color the sky, and try as he might, he couldn’t get himself to fall back asleep. He turned around in bed to face Gabriel, but Gabriel wasn’t there and his side of the bed was cold, like he had been gone for ages. Jesse’s brows knit together and he scratched at his scruff as he rolled out of bed slowly. He was loathe to leave its soft warmth, but he wanted to find Gabriel

He didn’t bother dressing as he left the bedroom, there was nobody around for him to worry about seeing him in his boxer briefs as he walked the halls. The hardwood was cold on his bare feet and he yawned loudly, opening doors and checking in them every once and awhile.

Gabriel wasn’t anywhere on the second floor so Jesse headed downstairs when he started to smell the faint stink of weed. He hadn’t thought Gabriel smoked; every single time he had seen Gabriel with weed it was when he was getting on Jesse and Liv Blaise’s asses for smoking in the empty recruit barracks and confiscating their weed. But apparently the commander had more secrets than he hadn’t let Jesse be privy to yet, and Jesse followed the scent to the main living room of the house.

Jesse’s breath caught in his throat as he stood at the entrance to the living room, the lights were off and Gabriel was barely illuminated by the rising sun, glow of the cherry a bright orange in the semi-darkness. Gabriel’s head was tilted back and every inch of his body seemed relaxed, almost liquid on the couch as he took a hit from the blunt.

The smoke around Gabriel seemed like almost a halo, lit by the sun and he was a king on his throne, every bit as regal and angelic as his namesake as he pulled the blunt from his lips and exhaled a small cloud of smoke. He was dressed in barely more than Jesse, clad in only black boxer briefs and a tight red v-neck. It was a sight Jesse wanted to remember forever, Gabriel in complete peace, completely relaxed, completely beautiful.

“Come here, sweetheart,” Gabriel softly called after a long moment of silence, his words were slow and his eyes were thin slits as he looked at Jesse from the corner of his eyes. Even when Gabriel was stoned, Jesse couldn’t manage to sneak up on him. 

Jesse was quiet as he walked across the room towards Gabriel, not wanting to ruin the peace of the moment. The smell of the weed in the air was cloying and heavy, Jesse didn’t know how long Gabriel had been down there smoking, but it was long enough to make the smell permeate the living room.

“I said come here, not next to me,” Gabriel said when Jesse stopped in front of the couch. He motioned at his lap, blunt held between two fingers.

“Didn’t take you as the smoking type,” Jesse said slowly as he crawled onto Gabriel’s lap. 

“I’m from California,” Gabriel rolled his shoulders back and let out out a contented half moan at the stretch. “We all smoke, plus, after the past couple of days, I needed this.”

“You get on my ass each time Blaise and I smoke.”

“I take your weed to smoke with Jack and Ana,” Gabriel said with a throaty chuckle. He paused to run a hand along Jesse’s side, thumb tracing tender, ugly bruises. “You’re gorgeous, you know? Goddamned prettiest sight I’ve seen in my life.” Apparently stoned out of his mind Gabriel was more openly honest and affectionate than regular Gabriel.

Jesse reached for the blunt held loosely in Gabriel’s free hand, “You gonna let me take a hit, darling? You’re not the only one who needs some.” 

Gabriel laughed and pulled his hand away from Jesse’s, “Nope.” He set the blunt in his mouth and took a moment to inhale deeply. 

Jesse leaned down against Gabriel’s chest and mouthed at his neck, “Gabe, please.”

“Annoying boy,” Gabriel muttered around the blunt, blowing smoke as he exhaled. He brought a hand to Jesse’s hair, entangling his fingers in the too long locks and stroking to soften his words. Jesse couldn’t help the way he melted into the touch; he was eternally weak to Gabriel playing with his hair.

“I’m your annoying boy, though,” Jesse nipped at the side of Gabriel’s neck playfully. “Your annoying boy who  _ really _ wants some of what you’re smoking.”

Gabriel snorted and and pulled the blunt from his lips, “Come here then.”

Jesse looked up and extended a hand to grab the blunt from Gabriel, but he still held it slightly away from Jesse. “You gonna give that to me or what?” Jesse frowned. 

Gabriel ran a thumb along Jesse’s jaw, “You need to learn patience.” He leaned forward to pull Jesse into a gentle, languid kiss. Trying to argue with Gabriel and force him to move at Jesse’s pace would have been useless, so Jesse just closed his eyes and sighed softly in contentment as Gabriel sucked at his bottom lip and tugged at it gently with his teeth. If Gabriel was going to do things at his own pace, Jesse would just have to go along with it and enjoy it.

Gabriel broke off the kiss to move down on Jesse, nibbling softly on his collarbone before moving to his chest where he lavished it with soft kisses and sucked marks on the tanned flesh. Jesse’s breath hitched as Gabriel licked at a nipple and tugged at it.

Gabriel went on like that for what felt like hours, kissing and sucking marks along his body before he finally looked up at Jesse. “Come here,” he murmured, placing the blunt between his lips.

“You actually gonna let me smoke this time or what?” Jesse asked with a wry grin. “Because I wasn’t jokin’ when I said that I could really use this after yesterday.”

“Shh,” Gabriel hummed, he brought a hand to the back of Jesse’s head and pulled him in close. A question died in Jesse’s throat as Gabriel inhaled deeply around the blunt and held his breath as he pulled the blunt from his mouth and leaned up to hold his lips scant centimeters away from Jesse’s.

Jesse opened his mouth in time for Gabriel to exhale a cloud of smoke into his mouth and he inhaled in time, letting his lungs fill up with smoke. When Gabriel had breathed everything, Jesse closed his eyes and let the smoke sit in his chest before he slowly exhaled.

“Beautiful,” Gabriel murmured, tightening his hand in Jesse’s hair and pulling him in for a kiss. The kiss was deep and possessive with almost enough teeth to be uncomfortable.

Gabriel’s free hand came down to rest on Jesse’s ass, squeezing it as he ground their hips together. Jesse could feel how hard Gabriel was and he couldn’t help the way he moaned into Gabriel’s mouth.

When Gabriel finally broke off the kiss, Jesse was breathless and he felt the lightness of being high starting to hit him. He rested his forehead against Gabriel’s and closed his eyes, unable to help the smile that formed on his lips as Gabriel continued to roll his hips against Jesse’s and run his hand through Jesse’s hair. 

Jesse’s eyes felt heavy when he opened them again. Sluggishly, he brought a hand down between him and Gabriel to free their cocks from their boxer briefs. 

“I love you, you know?” Jesse murmured, voice thick and his accent thicker. He pressed chaste kisses to Gabriel’s mouth as he wrapped a hand around their cocks and slowly stroked. He was in no rush, hell, even if he wanted to be, it was like he was moving in molasses, all of his movements were slow and sluggish.

“I do,” Gabriel rumbled, smiling against Jesse’s lips. His golden eyes were cracked open, staring into Jesse’s as he stroked at his hair. “You’re the best decision I’ve ever made,” he broke away from Jesse’s lips to kiss along the scruff of his jaw. Every area that Gabriel kissed, that his beard rubbed on felt electric, the feeling of each kiss, every touch, lingered like static on his skin. 

Jesse moaned, a breathless sound, as Gabriel nipped at the tendons of his throat. “Please tell me you have lube,” he asked, words coming slow. 

Gabriel’s chuckle ghosted breath against his skin, “Of course I do, I’m prepared as fuck.”

“Or prepared  _ to _ fuck,” Jesse grinned and ground his hips against Gabriel’s, pulling a soft moan from Gabriel. 

“Do you want to ride my cock or do you want me to hold you down?” Gabriel ignored him and reached an arm blindly behind the couch and fished around for the bottle of lube. Jesse took that time to reach on the coffee table for the blunt and set it between his lips, inhaling around it. 

Jesse closed his eyes as he let the smoke sit in his lungs. “Mmm, hold me down,” he hummed, smoke leaving his lips in a cloud. He didn’t feel like he’d be able to move fast enough to get any semblance of a good rhythm going, especially not after a second hit. He set the blunt back down on the ashtray on the coffee table and laid down on top of Gabriel, head buried in the crook of his neck. “You’re so warm,” he said, voice muffled by Gabriel’s skin.

“And you’re heavy,” Gabriel kissed the top of his head before maneuvering his way out from underneath Jesse and flipping Jesse over with ease, like — despite his words — Jesse weighed nothing. The casual show of Gabriel’s strength made Jesse’s cock twitch and breath hitch. Jesse barely noticed when Gabriel pulled off their boxer briefs. 

“There’s a good boy,” Gabriel murmured, spreading Jesse’s cheeks and rubbing a slicked finger against his hole. His free hand rubbed circles on the small of Jesse’s back as he slid a single finger into him.

Gabriel’s hands felt burning hot, yet the heat was somehow comforting and soothing. Underneath his hands, Jesse’s muscles relaxed. He sighed softly, contently, eyes shut as Gabriel stroked at his inner walls as if he had all the time in the world — something Jesse had a hard time disagreeing with. To Jesse, it felt like time was slowed, every second dragged on for hours, days, years, every touch felt like it lasted an eternity. He had no doubt Gabriel was feeling something similar.

“I love you,” Jesse said for what felt like the hundredth time, but he couldn’t stop himself; he had to let Gabriel know how he felt.

“I know you do.” Gabriel slid a second finger into him and kissed his thigh.  _ But do you love me _ was Jesse’s unasked question that Gabriel dodged time and time again. Either unaware or uncaring of the unasked question that sat on the tip of Jesse’s tongue, Gabriel continued on, “You’re the most beautiful man I’ve seen in my life.” His words were punctuated by kisses on Jesse’s thighs and twists of his fingers, occasionally they would brush against Jesse’s prostate, but that seemed like an afterthought or an accident.

Not like it mattered, Jesse’s entire body felt hypersensitive and regardless of where Gabriel touched, shockwaves of pleasure coursed through Jesse.

“ _ Fuck _ , Gabe,” Jesse’s fingers clawed at the leather sofa and a keening moan left his lips as he came, thick ropes of cum pulsed from his cock as Gabriel lazily fingered him.

“You’re a quick shot today,” Gabriel laughed against Jesse’s thigh. Jesse kicked blindly at Gabriel and his foot was caught in a gun calloused hand, he was still too blissed out from his orgasm to manage more than that and a disgruntled snort. “Relax, sweetheart,” Gabriel chuckled and kissed the arch of Jesse’s foot before he set his foot down and flipped Jesse around.

Jesse was distracted from the fact that he was laying in his own cum near immediately by the sight of Gabriel’s strong, slightly flexed biceps. Unconsciously, he lifted a hand up to trace along the muscle and the bulging vein.

Gabriel paused with a grin and pulled off his shirt, baring his chest for Jesse and god did Jesse drink up the sight. As Gabriel slid his finger back into Jesse, that time with a third added, Jesse leaned forward to mouth at Gabriel’s chest while his hands ran along the strong planes of his stomach.

He could spend eternity like this, Jesse’s mind thought absently, legs hitched around Gabriel’s waist and mouth on his chest. Despite knowing the power in Gabriel, his ability to kill, Jesse felt safe and protected with him. He let out a contented half-sigh half-moan as Gabriel lazily thumbed at his nipple while continuing to stretch him open.

“You should —  _ mmm _ — you should let your hair grow out more often,” Jesse murmured against Gabriel’s chest, thoughts flickering to how much he wanted to entangle his fingers in Gabriel’s hair while he sucked him off. 

“I’ll think about it,” Gabriel replied and pulled his fingers free from Jesse. Lightly, he pushed Jesse down and held him down with a single hand while he lined his slicked up cock up with Jesse’s stretched hole.

Jesse watched as Gabriel’s stomach tended and his head tilted backwards as he slowly began to slide his cock inch by inch into Jesse. A shuddering, moaning sigh left his lips, “Fuck, you feel so good, sweetheart.”

Jesse pulled Gabriel’s hand off of his shoulder to entangle their fingers together, squeezing as Gabriel seated himself fully inside of him. They both let out groaning moans at the same time as Jesse clenched around Gabriel’s cock.

Gabriel leaned down to rest his forehead against Jesse’s, eyes shut, as he slowly began to move his hips. Jesse closed his own eyes and tightened his legs around Gabriel’s waist, moaning as Gabriel brushed against his prostate.

“ _ Gabe _ ,” Jesse moaned, everything was so sensitive. Even Gabriel’s breath ghosting across his lips sent tingles across his skin. 

“I got you,” Gabriel’s voice was a low rumble as he fucked into Jesse, there was very little grace to it; just raw, unfiltered need. “You’re —  _ mmgh _ — my boy, I’ve always got you.”

Jesse muffled the moan that bubbled up from his throat by wrapping his lips around Gabriel’s, kissing the man deeply. With his free hand, he entangled his fingers in the hair he had been thinking about moments that felt like lifetimes earlier. Gabriel returned the kiss with full force as he fucked into Jesse. 

Gabriel wrapped a hand around Jesse’s cock, damn near pulling a scream out of him as he stroked. Each stroke was met by a sharp thrust of Gabriel’s hips and Jesse held onto his hand and hair like they were lifelines and not even the kiss could quiet the moans that left his lips.

Gabriel wasn’t faring much better, however. Each thrust of his hips had Jesse feeling the rumblings in his chest as he let out growling moans. It came as no surprise to Jesse when Gabriel’s hips stuttered and he broke apart the kiss to moan loudly, hand jerking quick on Jesse’s and Jesse felt the warmth of cum start to fill his insides.

Jesse came with a sob as Gabriel tugged at his cock just right. His hips thrusted erratically and his hand tightened on Gabriel’s hard as thick ropes of cum painted his belly. Gabriel stroked him through his orgasm, stopping at the point when it became near painful for Jesse.

Every inch of Jesse felt like warm, contented liquid as he laid, chest heaving with Gabriel on top of him. Stoned out of his mind and blissed out on his orgasm, Jesse’s eyelids felt impossibly heavy as he stared up at Gabriel. “Sleep here with me,” Jesse murmured, squeezing Gabriel’s hand.

“It’s gonna be too bright soon,” Gabriel pulled out of Jesse slowly, drawing a whine out of him at the feeling of being empty. His eyes looked heavy and unfocused as well as he stared down at Jesse. He ran the back of his free hand gently across Jesse’s jaw, “We can go to one of the bedrooms down here instead.”

Jesse closed his eyes as Gabriel picked him up bridal style, “I love you, Gabe,” he murmured softly, already starting to drift off. Gabriel kissed his forehead gently and whispered something that Jesse couldn’t quite catch as he fell soundly asleep, safe and warm in Gabriel’s arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want to know what Jesse’s wearing for his new talon uniform, I drew it the other day 
> 
> Follow me online @smalls2233


	3. Chapter 3

Gabriel awoke in the mid afternoon with Jesse still snoring, soundly asleep wrapped in his arms. Gently, he pulled himself free of Jesse’s sleeping form, pausing for a moment as Jesse flipped over in his sleep and tried to nestle closer to Gabriel’s warmth. Grinning, Gabriel softly brushed Jesse’s hair back from his face and stared at his face. He looked so… young, all hardened lines and masks were stripped free from his face, leaving only a young, vulnerable man. He was beautiful, had he been born five hundred years earlier, sculptors would have fought over the chance to immortalize his form. But Gabriel was the one lucky enough to claim him as his own, the only one who could run his fingers so lightly over his strong jaw.

“Gabe,” Jesse murmured, a quiet sigh leaving his lips as Gabriel’s hand paused on his face. Gabriel was still for a moment, almost mortified to be caught in a moment of such tenderness.

No follow up came from Jesse, only steady, even breathing, nestled closely against Gabriel’s chest. Of course the kid was still asleep, he ran himself ragged on ops. More than once, Gabriel had found him in a state of half dressed in the locker room, completely passed out. He didn’t know if Jesse ever remembered, but he had carried the damn kid to his room so damn frequently after ops, setting bottles of water and protein bars next to his bed like Jesse was his drunk roommate, not his subordinate that didn’t know how to fucking pace himself.

But Gabriel was weak, so,  _ so _ fucking weak for Jesse McCree. Weaker than he would ever admit to Jesse, more than he ever wanted to admit to himself. 

With one last, soft touch, Gabriel pulled himself away before he could lay back down next to Jesse and appreciate the slight rise and fall of his chest as he slept, the quiet snores and sighs that left his lips as he dreamed. Gently, Gabriel tugged the blankets of the bed so they were wrapped snugly around Jesse before he turned to leave the room so he could shower and brush his teeth.

The beach house was near silent as Gabriel walked down the hall, the only sounds, the low rumble of the AC and his quiet footsteps, muffled by socks. Lost in thought, Gabriel ran a hand through his hair.

He never wanted to get attached to Jesse, never wanted anything genuine. Attachments were weaknesses, something to be taken advantage of and abused by his enemies. All he wanted was to be the carrot on the stick, the motivation for Jesse to keep working for him, to keep improving and exceeding his records.

But at some point those lines had grown blurred and murky. Gabriel’s steps faltered and he leaned against the wall, letting out a soft sigh, he had never expected that he himself would fail so violently at keeping himself detached. His entire life had been lived at some level of detachment from other human beings after whatever the good ol’ United States government has done to turn him into a living cloud of LA smog.

Jack and Ana were his two closest friends yet even with them he built up walls and hid behind masks, not letting them see the truth inside of him. The walls were still up with Jesse, the masks ever present, but he found himself lingering, staring,  _ touching  _ beyond a need to sate his sexual desires. With the kid he had found something that pulled at him at some primal, deep desire. He wasn’t a religious man, nor was he particularly superstitious, but at times he wondered if there had been some greater force at play that united him with the one man who could understand him better than even Jack. 

Gabriel pulled at his goatee with his hand. At his core, he knew one thing was undeniable; he was in love with Jesse McCree.

——

Halfway through cooking his third omelette and fourth pan of bacon, Gabriel’s tablet lit up. For a brief moment, he considered ignoring it. He was on vacation, officially signed the paperwork and everything to get him off the hook from work for the two weeks, but only one man’s messages were set to notify him on his down time.

_ Call me. Now. _ Morrison, Jack 16:30

Gabriel grit his teeth and swore under his breath. It wasn’t unexpected for Jack to call him after what happened, but the problem was that Jack had  _ already  _ called him. They had already discussed what had transpired and written down a list of suspects then handed the investigation over to Blackwatch to handle.

Gabriel dragged his phone out of his back pocket and slowly scrolled down his list of contacts until his thumb hovered over Jack’s name. A thousand potentials ran through Gabriel’s mind as he paused. There was no way Jack could know it was him, he had made certain that he left no connections between Gabriel Reyes and Reaper. There was  _ nothing  _ that could link them together. Blackwatch was fully handling the investigation, feeding Jack and Ana completely false information.

So why was dread boiling in his gut?

Gabriel ground his teeth together and clicked on Jack’s name, letting the phone ring.

It barely got through one ring before Jack answered, “Gabe.”

“I’m on vacation, Jack, what’s up?” Gabriel willed his voice into something calm and almost annoyed at having his vacation interrupted by work.

“And there was a major terrorist attack on an Overwatch base, setting one of the most dangerous criminals we had locked up in there free,” Jack replied, voice clipped. “You’re officially on call until I say otherwise.”

Gabriel grit his teeth, “I wouldn’t exactly call Carmen Santos a dangerous criminal, Jack.”

“She was in maximum security, was nearly the first one to break free from Grand Mesa unaided — was the first one to escape at all — and was the leader of the Southwest’s premiere arms dealing gang. She’s dangerous, Gabe.”

“Don’t know why this puts me on call, though, I’ll be back on base next week and I’ve got my men looking into this. Unless we’ve suddenly got the power to roll back the clock, there’s nothing I can do about Santos currently.”

“Your men had a Talon mole in their ranks, I don’t know if I can trust Blackwatch right now.”

“And so did Overwatch, that doesn’t make them all Talon,” Gabriel pulled out a chair and flopped down on it.

“So maybe I can’t trust Overwatch either, then,” Jack replied, voice gravel rough and agitated. “I’ve been working on looking into this myself, I know that at least I can be trusted so I’ve been analyzing every video we have of Deadeye as well as the ones we have of Deadeye and Reaper together.”

Gabriel’s gut froze over, he hadn’t expected Jack to look into this himself. Jack had  _ never _ looked into any of this himself, had always had faith in Gabriel and his team. “I’ve analyzed those videos too, Jack, had my experts comb over every single frame and audio clip. We couldn’t find an identity, they’ve never lost their masks and their vocal distortion makes it so we can’t even know what they sound like.”

“I understand that, but I wanted to do this myself.”

“And?”

At Jack’s next words, Gabriel felt his entire world shake, “I’m certain that Deadeye is Jesse McCree.”

Gabriel barked out a laugh, “McCree? Jack, you’re joking.”

“Deadeye has associations with Deadlock, he uses a revolver, has a similar accent, and most importantly broke Carmen Santos out of prison, it lines up, Gabe.”

“Jack, there’s thousands of people with his accent, Carmen Santos had been Deadlock’s leader before we had taken it down so it makes sense that a Deadlock affiliate would want her back, and I’m sure other people use revolvers.”

“Jesus Christ, Gabe,” Jack snapped. “I know you’re fucking the kid, but listen to reason.”

Gabriel willed himself to stay calm, “Jack, you have my paperwork, you have my biotrackers and the biotrackers for every last goddamned Blackwatch asset, there’s no way McCree could be Deadeye because he’s in Hawaii with me.”

There was silence on the line before Jack spoke next, voice hoarse and quiet, “Deadeye has a partner, Reaper.”

“What are you accusing me of, Jack?” Gabriel’s voice was icy.

Silence once again hung loudly on the phone before a sharp exhale of breath. “I don’t know, Gabe, I’m trying to put together the pieces of a puzzles that keep fucking changing and shifting on me and I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”

“Jack,” Gabriel forced himself to take on a soothing tone. “We’ve been together for decades, you know me, we know each other’s deepest, darkest secrets and faults. You  _ know  _ I’m no more Talon than you are.”

“There’s enemies everywhere, Gabe,” Jack sounded broken. “We cleared out so many agents over the past days because of probable connections to Talon, ones I’ve worked beside in the field, ones I would have taken a fucking bullet for. I don’t know anything anymore, I can’t trust anyone.”

“You know you can trust me, you know you can trust Ana,” Gabriel said gently. “Talk with her or Doctor O’Deorain, Ana could set you up with some tea or the doc could set you up with something stronger. You need to rest, take some time off, when I’m back in Switzerland I’ll take care of this investigation.”

“I need one our sessions again.” It almost hurt Gabriel, how broken and defeated Jack sounded. He was almost ten years younger than Gabriel but sounded like he was so much older. “I— all of this is just… My body’s gonna tear itself apart because of this if I don’t take it out somehow.”

“When I’m back we’ll set something up, but you need to stop this, Jack,” Gabriel’s voice was low and calm. “Right now you’re paranoid, every sense you got from SEP is going haywire and you just need to reboot.”

“Keep an eye on McCree for me,” Jack pleaded. “I don’t trust him, Gabe. I know you don’t believe me, but there’s something not right about him.”

“I can handle this,” Gabriel said before ending the call. His hands were shaking and his insides were boiling, Jack was too goddamned close to the truth.

Moments passed and Gabriel could smell his food burning, acrid smell mixing unpleasantly with the lingering smell of weed, but he ignored it as he dialed a number into his phone.

“I’m working, what do you need?” Moira sounded unamused as she answered milliseconds before the call went to voicemail.

“The Strike Commander is too close to the truth, I need you to handle it,” Gabriel ordered flatly, eyes dark.

——

“Did you try and burn a body in here?” Gabriel turned around to see Jesse walking into the kitchen, nose wrinkled and hair still dripping with water, he must have just gotten a shower. “Ain’t sure that that would smell half as bad as this, though.”

“Hilarious,” Gabriel said dryly. “I had a call that went a little long and I forgot to turn off the burners.”

“Call about what?” Jesse asked as he inspected a stack of pancakes. “These for me?”

Gabriel thought about telling Jesse the truth about his call with Jack, but decided against it. There was no need to fill Jesse in on what Moira would be taking care of, having him know would just complicate things. “Nothing important, Jack was worried about me. And yeah, they’re for you, I already ate.”

“What was he worried about?” Jesse asked around a mouthful of pancakes. 

“Worried for my mental health being around you for two weeks,” Gabriel smirked. “It’s no big deal, he’s just a worrywart. I’m out of his sight for five minutes and he thinks I’m gonna be kidnapped or murdered or maybe a piano will drop from the sky.”

Jesse snorted, “If you say so.” He took another massive bite and chewed for a few moments before saying, “You seemed stressed, though. You sure that’s all Blondie was calling about?”

Gabriel’s lip twitched, “Everything’s fine, Jess, I’d let you know if we had any big problems.”

“Make sure you do,” Jesse hummed before taking another too big bite of his pancakes.

“It’s like you’ve never eaten before,” Gabriel couldn’t hold in the comment as he watched Jesse pile food into his mouth. “Fuck, McCree, you’re barely even chewing.”

“I don’t criticize you for the shit you eat,” Jesse retorted, mouth still full of half chewed pancake.

“At least I chew it and don’t look like a half starved coyote,” Gabriel snorted.

“I’ve seen you crush up Doritos, throw them into some cheese dip, and drink it like a smoothie,” Jesse said after swallowing. “That’s so much worse than any way I could be eating.”

“It’s efficient and I need the calories.”

“It’s  _ disgusting _ , Gabe,” Jesse threw his hands up. “I’m pretty sure you’ve just eaten a bowl of butter, sugar, and eggs at some point for calories.”

Gabriel snorted, “Sounds like an effective way to get a boatload of calories to me. Could throw some protein powder in it and have a great post workout meal — I’ll try that next time, actually.” He paused to turn around and walk to his coffee maker and poured two mugs, one black and one that was more milk than coffee. The sound of a spoon clinking on the sides of a ceramic mug was the only sound in the room. 

“You gonna tell me what the call was actually about?” Jesse asked softly and Gabriel’s stirring faltered. “I know it wasn’t just Jack checking up on you.”

“It was nothing important,” Gabriel set the mug of black coffee down in front of Jesse.

“He’s on to us, isn’t he?” Jesse asked and Gabriel swore internally.

“It’s being taken care of,” was all Gabriel said.

Gabriel could feel Jesse’s eyes burning holes into his back as he turned around once more to grab his mug of coffee and a piece of cold, charred bacon. But Jesse didn’t acknowledge his words, not verbally at least, instead he asked, “So then what’s the plan today?”

“Tomorrow we’ll be getting dinner and shopping since it’s your birthday,” Gabriel took a sip of his coffee and frowned slightly. As he poured more milk into it, he continued, “Today we’ll be taking a run through the forest.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Jesse laughed nervously. “Don’t see why you gotta be punishing me like this, Gabe.”

“It’s not punishment,” Gabriel snorted and took another sip of coffee, this time it was perfect so he moved back to the table to sit down next to Jesse. “Vacation isn’t an excuse to slack on training.”

“We just ran a successful op and did what no person has ever done before,” Jesse grumbled. “Pretty sure that’s training enough for the week.”

“Nope.” Gabriel fixed Jesse a look and watched as the kid barely restrained himself from squirming under his gaze. He had made Jesse go through every single level of Blackwatch resistance training multiple times, had made Jesse damn near torture resistant, but one unreadable look from Gabriel still made him squirm. It made Gabriel laugh.

“We’re running a 5k through the forest, bitch some more about it and you’ll get to do that twice while I sit inside and watch some porn or something,” Gabriel took another sip of coffee and fixed Jesse a look.

“This was supposed to be a vacation,” Jesse fucking  _ pouted  _ and goddamn it was cute. “A vacation where we’ve had sex once, I found out my dead mom was actually my alive mom, and then I had to bust her out of fuckin’ prison and reveal to her that I’m fucking a guy almost as old as she is.”

“You also murdered a dude,” Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Can’t forget that detail.”

“Thank you, Gabriel,” Jesse said dryly, staring at Gabriel with unamused eyes. “That’s the most important detail.”

“Look,” Gabriel leaned back and motioned with his coffee mug. “Vacation doesn’t mean that you get to become a stagnant slug. Anyway, think of it like a nature hike, just one where you’re constantly jogging and if you fall behind there’ll be repercussions.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re an asshole, Gabe?”

“All the time, sweetheart,” Gabriel grinned. “So finish your food and then gear up, this’ll be fun.”

He didn’t want to mention his real reason for the run. Didn’t want to mention that internally he was tearing himself apart in stress over Jack’s potential discovery. He needed to do something to take his mind off of Jack’s words and exercise was one of the few things he could think of that could work.

——

The run  _ was _ fun, for Gabriel at least. In his mind, there were few things more relaxing than jogging — even if it was in an area where it felt like he could drink the air and his skin was damp both from sweat and the sheer humidity. But he knew Jesse’s idea of relaxation was more like what they had done last night; smoking weed and having sex, or maybe something like lazing about on the beach.

Not running through the rainforest.

“Look on the bright side, Jesse,” Gabriel called, shiteating grin plastered on his face as he barreled through the underbrush. “At least you’re behind me so I’m doing all the hard work in making us a trail.”

“How about you go fuck yourself?” Jesse called back, a slight hint of breathlessness in his voice. Gabriel could feel the angry weight of Jesse’s eyes on him. 

Gabriel snorted, Jesse glaring angrily at him was something he was used to and Jesse bitching about training was even more familiar. 

“At least I’m not pulling you out of bed at two in the morning to break your fingers this time.” Fingers, ribs, arms, pretty much all of them got broken during Blackwatch’s torture resistance training. Gabriel would be lying if he said he didn’t get a little enjoyment out of seeing agents’ reactions to their first time going through resistance training.

Most agents weren’t as green as Jesse was, though, so Jesse’s reaction had been a particular treat to enjoy.

—

_ Gabriel pulled the knit mask up over his face and mentally ticked down the seconds in his brain. To his left, a group of Blackwatch agents stood, looking like any faceless goons from any crime syndicate in the world, waiting for his command. _

_ Gabriel’s lips twisted into a wry grin as the power in the Blackwatch outpost flickered once, twice, and finally shut off. McCree had been talking big the past few months, had been acting like the fact that he had been a big shot in Deadlock meant anything in Blackwatch, like resistance training in Blackwatch meant being pepper sprayed until you could handle it. But a few weeks previously, he had turned eighteen and Gabriel was given free reign to induct McCree into Blackwatch fully. _

_ “ _ Go _ ,” Gabriel barked before kicking down the door to McCree’s room. If the kid had been sleeping, he definitely wasn’t now. Instead, he was ready to fucking pounce with a loose pipe from god knows where the kid ripped it from in hand. _

_ A smug warmth blossomed in Gabriel’s chest at the sight, but instead of letting his approval show, he barked, “ _ Get the Deadlock brat, now. _ ” _

_ McCree snarled and threw himself at the group of black clad Blackwatch agents, swinging the pipe in tight, controlled motions. The only light was a slowly flashing red glow that barely lit the room — the alarms had been triggered purposefully a few minutes before the main power went down. _

_ A nasty  _ crack _ filled the room as the metal pipe connected with the shoulder of McMillan and he went down with an oof of pain, clutching his shoulder. But McCree’s moment of victory was over as the other agents closed in around him. The metal pipe caught a few more, but Gabriel grabbed it mid swing and ripped it free of McCree’s hands before swinging it against the back of his head, knocking the brat out cold. _

_ Gabriel rolled his shoulders back and held McCree up by the back of his neck. “ _ Get him tied up and ready for me. _ ” He idly wondered how long it would take for the kid to break. He had been in Deadlock, but was untouchable. Gabriel doubted that McCree had ever truly been brutalized in his life. _

Well _ , Gabriel thought,  _ there’s a first time for everything _. _

_ *** _

_ The air in Blackwatch’s resistance training room was uncomfortably chilly as Gabriel walked in, three hours later. The walls of the room were artificially dirty and dingy, but it was cleaner than the damn infirmary and Blackwatch’s med team was monitoring everything. If anything dipped below a certain level, no matter if it was for a fraction of a second or for an hour, the training would be put on hold for the night immediately and McCree was going straight to medical. _

_ It was safe. For torture resistance training. _

_ “ _ Did you think that leaving Deadlock was enough to protect you from us? _ ” Gabriel asked, voice disguised by a vocal modifier. _

_ “ _ Go fuck yourself _ ,” McCree ground out, his eyes were still covered by a blindfold but his body was bare save for his boxer briefs. Gabriel could see the way his muscles strained against his bonds, trying to break free. _

Off to a bad start _ , Gabriel thought. They had been over the basics of torture resistance when McCree had first been brought into Blackwatch, rule number fucking one was to not respond, not answer. Don’t give your captor anything to bite on to. _

_ Gabriel narrowed his eyes and ripped the blindfold off of McCree’s face and watched as the kid’s eyes flickered around the room, trying to get any clue to where he was at. “ _ Pretty thing like you _ ,” Gabriel grabbed McCree’s chin between two fingers, squeezing hard and making McCree look into the faceless mask. “ _ Bet I could do a lot better than fucking myself when I’ve got you here with me. You ever been fucked, boy? _ ” _

_ McCree stared at him, jaw jutting out  in a defiant manner and eyes stormy and dark. He didn’t respond that time at the very least, though Gabriel wasn’t sure if it came from remembering the lessons or just pure survival instinct. _

_ “ _ Answer me when I talk to you _ ,” Gabriel snarled, backhanding Jesse at full strength. The crack of his hand against the hard bone of Jesse’s jaw was loud, and the chair Jesse was tied to nearly toppled over at the force of the blow. _

_ “ _ Ain’t got nothing to say to you _ ,” McCree worked his jaw and spat out some blood. _

_ “ _ Do you now? _ ” Gabriel asked, trying to avoid looking at the gooseflesh on Jesse’s arms, the way his nipples were perked by the cold. Attractive as McCree was, the middle of a torture session wasn’t the time for Gabriel to get turned on, he wasn’t Jack. _

_ Plus, if he was to have McCree then McCree would need to make the first move, not him. _

_ Gabriel walked across the room in slow, deliberate motions to where he had a table of tools set up. He ignored the heavier tools, he didn’t expect to get that far into the toolbox that night. Not when McCree was still so green. _

_ One way or another, that entire table filled with instruments of torture was going to be used by the end of the next six months, either by Gabriel or another Blackwatch agent. _

_ “ _ You know, _ ” Gabriel hummed as he ran a hand along the tools set neatly up on the table. “That was clever, your little move with that pipe, put one of my men out of commission.” He wrapped a hand around a heavy hammer and turned around, letting McCree see exactly what it was that he picked out. “ _ Now let’s see how long it takes you to tell me everything you know about Blackwatch _.” _

_ *** _

_ It took approximately thirty minutes before McCree’s will cracked along with the bones in his left hand and arm as well as several of his ribs  _ —  _ not to mention the swollen lips from Gabriel’s slap. As Gabriel was about to swing the hammer down on his upper arm, McCree let out a choked sob, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk.” _

_ Gabriel’s eyes narrowed beneath his mask as the room brightened and the med team rushed in. He pulled of his masked and fixed McCree with an unreadable look, “ _ Couldn’t even make it an hour, McCree? I’m disappointed.”

_ The hiss of a biotic canister was loud and the gas filled the room. “Welcome to the beginning of Blackwatch’s official training, McCree, also known as the worst six months of your life.” _

—

“I swear to god, Gabe,” Jesse’s voice brought Gabriel out of his memory. “You try and rip me out of bed to torture me again and I’m shooting you right in the middle of your smug face.”

Gabriel laughed, a loud, rich sound. “Never say never,” he grinned and slowed down to let Jesse catch up to him. When Jesse was keeping pace next to him, he leaned over and kissed his cheek gently, ignoring the salty taste of sweat.

Running was good, running kept his mind off of his problems. In the forest, with Jesse by his side, Gabriel was able to forget the problems that awaited them when they returned from Hawaii. In the soft shade of the trees, the only two people in the world that existed were him and Jesse McCree.

—

“Humidity fucking sucks,” Jesse flopped down on the couch next to Gabriel, wet hair dripping everywhere. “It’s one thing on a mission, it’s another to run in this soupy ass air for fun.”

Gabriel hummed in acknowledgement and leaned back in the couch to let Jesse move on top of him. He was only half paying attention to the football game on the tv, with most of his attention focused in on an email filled with various documents that Jack had sent him.

“I’m still pissed you know,” Jesse laid down, head resting on Gabriel’s thigh and looking up at him with his dark brown eyes. When Gabriel didn’t respond, he continued, “If you’re stressed, you could talk to me about it instead of forcing me to run a 5k through the fucking jungle.”

“I’m destressing by watching football.”

“I thought you didn’t like football,” Jesse said with a frown.

It took a second for Gabriel to parse Jesse’s words and to reply, mind too focused on the documents. “I prefer basketball and soccer but neither of those are on right now,” he tried to not sound too ruffled, unsure of how successful he was on that.

Jesse sighed heavily and moved his face from Gabriel’s thigh to his neck, leaving behind a patch of damp cloth. “You know, worrying your mind off about Jack being onto us isn’t gonna help anything,” he said quietly.

Gabriel’s jaw tensed and he pushed Jesse from off of him. “Your hair’s wet.”

“Gabe.”

Gabriel ignored Jesse and continued furiously staring at his tablet. Even if there was nothing he could do, it still killed him to not try and do  _ something _ .

“Gabe, you get on my case for shit like this each time a mission goes south. Right now, there ain’t nothing you can do about this,” Jesse’s voice was soft and gentle and the beast inside of Gabriel snarled at being the one consoled. He was a grown man, a super soldier, a leader of Talon, and the commander of Blackwatch. He didn’t need to be reassured and consoled like a child.

“ _ Je _ —” Gabriel started.

“All you do is take care of me,” Jesse said quietly, interrupting Gabriel. “Let me take care of you for once.”

A million feelings coursed through Gabriel at once, relief and anger threatening to tear his body apart at two sides. On one hand, he wanted nothing more than to let Jesse help him forget his problems. He was relieved that Jesse wanted to help him, that he wasn’t going to run away when things got tough. But on the other hand? He was furious, furious with the fact that he let anybody see him at a weak point, furious that he was obviously distressed enough that Jesse could tell, that Jesse thought he needed to comfort him.

But Jesse… Jesse could read him better than damn near anybody else. It was uncanny, his ability to look at somebody and figure out their problems and weak points. 

“Fine,” the word was barely a breath.

Jesse didn’t come up with any snarky response, no joke, no words at all. Instead, he silently and swiftly pulled Gabriel’s sweats off and ran a gentle hand along his thigh.

“No matter what,” Jesse said softly after a moment. “No matter what happens, I’m behind you, Gabe.”

Gabriel was silent, but it didn’t seem to matter to Jesse who continued on after he slicked up his hand with lube from the bottle that still remained on the coffee table from the previous night. “Last night, you told me that you’ve always got me, that I’m your boy,” he whispered and stroked Gabriel’s cock in short, gentle strokes in order to bring it to hardness. 

“Maybe we’re not equals, but we’re partners, Gabe,” Jesse’s voice was smooth and deep and Gabriel felt himself hardening in Jesse’s touch, with Jesse surrounding every inch of him. “Talk to me, confide in me, you ain’t gonna scare me away if you admit that you’re worried about something.”

“If I’m worried about something, you should be scared,” Gabriel replied, squeezing his eyes shut to avoid looking Jesse in the eye.

“Well then, maybe I’m just stupid.” Gabriel could hear the wry smile on Jesse’s face. “God knows that some of the Overwatch agents have called me that enough.”

“I’ll kill them,” Gabriel said hoarsely.

“They ain’t worth it,” Jesse murmured before twisting his hand in a way that made Gabriel gasp. “I don’t give a damn what anybody thinks — anybody but you. You’ve given me everything. I care about mom, I care about Deadlock, but the one I care the most about? Despite everything, it’s you.”

Any other time, Jesse’s words of how dedicated he was to him would have done little more than stroke Gabriel’s ego. After all, it was just something that he already knew, that he had planned on from the beginning. Being in any sort of relationship with Jesse was just to make him more useful, more loyal. But at that moment, the words gave Gabriel a lifeline to cling to.

He was absolutely fucked when it came to Jesse goddamned McCree. Absolutely fucked in a way that he could never admit, not to Jesse, not to anybody.

“I want you to trust me,” Jesse said, pressing his forehead against Gabriel’s as he worked his cock. “I’m— I would follow you anywhere. Gabe it ain’t that I’m loyal to Blackwatch, or that I’m loyal to Talon, or that I’m even goddamned loyal to Deadlock. I’m loyal to  _ you _ , if you told me tomorrow that we’re giving up crime, that we’re giving up Blackwatch and Talon and everything I’ve ever fuckin’ known and instead becoming vegan subsistence farmers, I’d do it. Trust me, Gabe, tell me everything, let me help you. We’re partners.”

“Jesse, I—” love you, am absolutely fucked over how much I care for you, so many words he could say. But no matter how much he wanted to, Gabriel couldn’t bring himself to say the whole truth. No matter how many times Jesse declared his love to him, Gabriel could never bring himself to do the same, no matter how he felt. “I trust you, more than anyone.”

“Then talk to me,” Jesse whispered. He pulled his hand free of Gabriel’s cock and moved his slick fingers down lower, to Gabriel’s hole. “Let me work with you on everything. You know I’m capable, we wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t.”

Jesse paused as he slid a finger into Gabriel, drawing a low moan from him. It had been a while since he had been fucked. He used toys, but it had been a while since he had used even those since he had found himself more than satisfied by fucking Jesse.

“You’re more capable than anybody,” Gabriel clenched his hands and squeezed his eyes even tighter. He could feel Jesse’s warm breath against his lips, strong nose pressing against his own. Even this small bit of honesty was killing him internally. “I— for years I’ve done everything alone, haven’t told anybody the full truth.”

“Rely on me.” Jesse’s voice was hoarse and raw as he spoke and added a second finger to Gabriel. “If something’s bothering you, tell me. We’re a team, Gabe.”

Gabriel let out a shaky breath as Jesse scissored his fingers inside of him and the fucking bizarreness of the situation set in on him. He was being more honest than he had been since before the goddamned SEP while Jesse was knuckle deep — soon to be balls deep — within him. He couldn’t help the strained, wheezing laugh that left his lips as he couldn’t stop thinking about how fucking weird and dumb and bizarre the situation was, how goddamned fucked he was, fucking  _ everything _ .

“Gabe?” Jesse pulled back and his fingers slowed.

Gabriel ran a hand down his face. “I can’t believe we’re spilling our guts while you’re fucking finger banging me.”

Gabriel opened his eyes in time to see Jesse smile wryly. “It’s pretty goddamn stupid, isn’t it?” Gabriel raised a hand to brush against Jesse’s cheek and watched as Jesse closed his eyes and nuzzled against it. “I love you, Gabe, I really do,” he whispered.

The words  _ I love you too _ stuck in Gabriel’s throat. As much as he wanted to say them, to reassure Jesse that he  _ did _ trust him, that he  _ did _ value him, that despite his intentions, he had fallen in love, he couldn't. Instead, he found it impossible to lay himself as bare as Jesse was able to. “I know you do,” was all Gabriel could bring himself to say.

If Gabriel was a better man, he’d let Jesse know just how loved he was. But he wasn’t a better man.

“I trust you,” Gabriel said slowly as Jesse started moving his fingers inside of him once again. “You’re—” he breathed out a slow breath as Jesse slid a third finger into him. “You’re the best thing I’ve gotten from Blackwatch.”

Jesse didn’t reply, he just brought his face back to Gabriel’s and kissed him slowly and deeply. Gabriel returned the kiss hungrily, burying his moans as Jesse brushed against his prostate into Jesse’s mouth. If he couldn't tell Jesse that he loved him, how much he meant to him, he could at least try and let him know physically.

Gabriel couldn’t hold back a whine as Jesse pulled back from him to strip from his own pants and slick his cock up with lube. He couldn’t help the way he stared at Jesse, devouring the sight of him, the strong line of his nose, his square jaw, goddamn everything about him was gorgeous.

Gabriel brushed a thumb along the square line of Jesse’s jaw as Jesse once again approached, slicked up cock in hand. “I can’t really believe you’re letting me do this,” Jesse breathed as he lined his cock up with Gabriel’s slick hole.

Gabriel chuffed out a laugh, “Neither can I, kid.”

Jesse slid inside of him slowly, carefully not to go too fast in fear of hurting Gabriel, and Gabriel’s breath hitched at the stretch. It had really been too long since he had been fucked, but the stretch wasn’t unpleasant.

Jesse’s hands were gentle on him, one on his thigh, holding his leg up, and the other on his cock, thumb rubbing against his cockhead and foreskin. “I know it ain’t exactly how the whole sugar daddy thing’s supposed to work,” Jesse said slowly, slightly breathless as he continued sliding into Gabriel. “But let me take care of you, sometimes, Gabe. You don’t have to be Atlas, carrying the world on your shoulders alone, let me take some of the burden from you.”

“Jesse…” Gabriel started, but was silenced when Jesse covered his lips with his own in a deep kiss. Hungrily, Gabriel returned it. Much like damn near everything else surrounding the boy, letting Jesse take care of him wasn’t something he ever thought would happen but it… it was nice.

Gabriel groaned into Jesse’s mouth as his cock brushed his prostate. It was barely any pressure against it, just the slightest tease of what was to come when Jesse finally began to thrust in and out of him properly, utterly wrecking him and leaving him unable to focus on any of the worries of the day, only able to focus on his boy, on Jesse.

Jesse broke apart from the kiss to rest his forehead against Gabriel’s once more as he bottomed out. Gabriel’s chest heaved as he got used to the full, almost overfull sensation in him. Jesse wasn’t that long, maybe only a bit above average, but  _ fuck _ , he was thick. 

A keening whine escaped from Jesse’s lips, “Fuck, Gabe you feel so good.”

Gabriel’s reply was a strangled groan as Jesse began to move slowly, “I’m not a porcelain doll, you can go harder than that.”

And harder Jesse went, the stretch still burned slightly but it wasn’t anything Gabriel couldn’t handle. He stared at Jesse’s closed eyes, his clenched teeth and was struck once again by the rough hewn beauty of him.

It wasn’t that Jesse was some smooth fashion magazine model, he was rough, scarred, a body made for function. His facial hair was questionable, his fashion even more so, but he was gorgeous.

Gabriel ran a hand along Jesse’s stubbly jaw, “I could never —  _ ghh  _ — ask for a better partner than you.” His breath hitched as Jesse thrusted roughly into him, stretching him with his thick cock. 

Jesse was near silent, only heavy breaths and quiet moans as he continued to fuck into Gabriel. When his cock finally slammed against Gabriel’s prostate, Gabriel couldn’t hold in the loud moan that escaped his lips that sounded vaguely reminiscent of Jesse’s name.

Picking up on that, Jesse began stroking Gabriel’s cock in earnest as he pounded into Gabriel, some thrusts landing directly on his prostate, other’s just barely brushing against it.

Sweat beaded on Gabriel’s chest and forehead — which was already damp thanks to Jesse’s wet hair — as Jesse kept fucking him. The only sounds in the house were their heavy breaths, pants, and the loud slap of skin on skin.

“ _ Fuck _ , Gabe,” Jesse moaned in his rich voice, hips twitching. Gabriel knew that Jesse wasn’t going to last much longer, but neither was he. He felt the warmth boiling in his gut ready to spill over.

“Jesse,” Gabriel groaned a screaming groan as Jesse slammed against his prostate and stroked his cock just right. Release hit him like a train and he spilled all over Jesse’s fist and his belly. It didn’t take long for Jesse to follow him, thrusts growing erratic and Gabriel felt the warmth of cum paint his insides. 

Jesse collapsed against Gabriel, smearing his mess against each of their bellies. Gabriel carded the fingers of one hand through Jesse’s wet hair and wrapped his free arm around Jesse’s back, holding them together tightly, and took a moment to catch his breath. Both of their chests were heaving and Gabriel’s ears buzzed pleasantly with the feeling of an intense orgasm.

“Stay,” Gabriel grumbled when he felt Jesse start to shift.

“I wanna clean you up.”

Gabriel closed his eyes and tightened his grip as he moved to lay down on the cough, wincing slightly as he felt cum drip out of his hole. “We can take care of that later, for now we can rest.”

“Don’t complain to me later about dried cum on your belly and thighs then,” Jesse grinned and nuzzled closer to Gabriel.

They laid in silence for a few moments, still catching their breaths, but before long Gabriel broke it. “I trust you, Jesse, with my life. I just…”

“You’re bad at this, I know,” Jesse murmured, nuzzling closer to Gabriel. “You’re an asshole who’s worked alone in this whole Talon thing for years.”

Gabriel smiled early, “Exactly. But I’ll… I’ll try to improve at this.”

“Well, the first way you can do that,” Jesse started and Gabriel could hear the grin in his voice. “Is by buying me everything that I want tomorrow when we hit the town.”

Gabriel let out a rumbling chuckle, “I think I could arrange something like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay between chapters! Writing's been pretty hard for me lately adlkfasd but I'm trying to get back on a schedule!!  
> \----  
> Follow me online @smalls2233

**Author's Note:**

> I now have a furry overwatch server! [Ship friendly and 18+ only](https://discord.gg/QVG74vp)
> 
> \----
> 
> me: I'm gonna get back to work on my other wips  
> me @ me: but what if you write a short pwp followup to golden and green  
> me @ me @ me: but what if you give it a plot
> 
> anyway that's the story on how I keep accidentally working on things that aren't redemption & ruin or coming down
> 
> oh yeah? Jesse and gabe's swim trunks? They're based off of [this](https://www.andrewchristian.com/bellport-swim-trunk.html) and [this](https://www.andrewchristian.com/crest-swim-shorts.html) and yes, the snuggle pouch is absolutely a term used in describing the dick pouch in Jesse's pair  
> \---  
> follow me online @smalls2233


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